Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Clinton House expanding draw
FAYETTEVILLE — Organizers at the Clinton House Museum want to amp up student engagement, host more events and continue to raise money for a tourist attraction that has tripled its visitors within the past three years.
Bill and Hillary Clinton lived in the 1,800-square-foot Tudor Revival-style house at 930 S. California Drive from 1973 to 1976 while teaching at the University of Arkansas School of Law. The university system’s Board of Trustees bought it for $249,950 in 2005. The Advertising and Promotion Commission leases the property for $1,200 a month from the university and manages and maintains it.
In 2010, the City Council renamed the street Clinton Drive and the property was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum’s director, Angie Albright, took on her role in 2016 shortly after the Advertising and Promotion Commission hired its executive director, Molly Rawn. Since then, the museum is asking for donations at the door, rather than charging an admission. The Atkinson speaker series, named after the late Richard Atkinson, former dean of the law school and longtime friend of the Clintons, brought
distinguished lecturers to the house last fall with plans for more this year. Educational programming on Arkansas history has drawn hundreds of students for field trips. Fundraisers and private events help pull in money to keep those functions going.
About 1,900 people walked through the house’s doors in 2014. More than 5,800 visited last year. About a quarter of the museum’s visitors come from all over the world, Albright said. Locals tend to bring their friends from out of town.
“We’re one of the places that is a gateway for Fayetteville tourism,” she said.
The museum represents less than 5 percent of the Advertising and Promotion Commission’s nearly $4.4 million budget, Rawn said.
The basic funding structure of the attraction has remained unchanged since its inception in 2005, but the way organizers present exhibits, archive materials and seek donations has changed a little, Rawn said. Costs were cut 8 percent from last year, she said.
Clinton House Museum is projected in the commission’s budget this year to generate $35,700 in revenue with more than $214,000 in costs. However, the museum, like the Walker-Stone House, Visitors Center and Town Center, all serve as parts of the larger tourism effort of the city. For instance, the Walker-Stone House has a $226,000 net loss on the books and the Town Center falls $2,000 short when each is taken as a line item.
The commission’s overall revenue matches its expenses.
“I am proud of that,” Rawn said. “The Clinton House Museum is not a separate entity we support, it is part of the A&P Commission and it has been since we founded it over a decade ago.”
Half of the city’s 2 percent hotel, motel and restaurant sales tax goes to tourism. The other half goes to parks.
Commissioner Todd Martin said regardless of where anyone stands politically, the Clintons have made huge contributions historically and culturally to the state and nation. The museum serves a role in showcasing local and state Americana, he said.
Martin expressed some concern at budget time about the museum’s financials but said Albright and her staff appear to be doing all they should as far as fundraising opportunities.
“I think it’s an interesting place,” he said. “I think they do a great job of depicting part of Arkansas history.”
The museum played host to a 1970s-themed fundraiser Thursday. Kelly Sayer, a longtime Fayetteville resident, said the appeal of the house has changed significantly since it first opened its doors to the public more than a decade ago.
“The story is now being told so much more fully about the Clintons and their trajectory through politics,” she said. “There’s been a lot of evolution.”
Laura Andreea Bolos, originally of Sweden, paid the fundraiser a visit during her six-month research training stay with the university. She acknowledged Bill Clinton spent eight years as president, but said Hillary Clinton holds a place in history as well as former secretary of state and two-time presidential candidate.
“Her work could be emphasized a little bit more,” Bolos said.
Albright said adding more Hillary Clinton material is in the works.