Could misci go to Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs?
CLIFTON PARK — That dastardly Phil Barrett isn’t just trying to snatch the Philip Schuyler statue. He also has eyes for Schenectady’s Museum of Innovation and Science.
As regular readers will know, misci has embarked on a desperate search for a new home, a move forced by structural and hydraulic problems at its building on Nott Terrace. Alas, the museum hasn’t made significant progress.
There was chatter about the museum moving to the New York State Museum in Albany. That option made too much sense to actually happen, and, predictably, momentum seems to have stalled, in part over (reasonable) concerns among state officials about pulling the museum from its hometown.
In Schenectady, meanwhile, local and county governments kicked in $7.5 million for a new hockey arena down by the casino, but, as of yet, haven’t stepped in to save misci.
Enter Barrett, the Clifton Park supervisor and Saratoga County Board of Supervisors chairman.
“It’s a great organization that’s been serving the community for years and years,” the Republican said about misci, now the region’s only science museum. “But they’re in dire straights, and I want to do what I can to support them.”
Barrett recently visited the Schenectady museum to meet with Gina Gould, its director, and said he’s been speaking with business and community leaders to gauge if there’s support for helping. Barrett also said he’s “establishing a task force of people who want to be involved in a solution regardless of their place of residence.”
But Saratoga County is the perfect place for the museum, he claims, given its status as the region’s center of technology and innovation.
The folks at Albany’s Nanotech complex might have something to say about that claim, but I take Barrett’s point. Still, it would seem a poor commentary on the region’s larger cities, particularly Schenectady, if misci departed for Saratoga County.
On the other hand, what’s important is that the museum survives, wherever. In other words, it would be better for the museum to serve the region’s children from Saratoga County than to disappear.
Agreed?
“I am hopeful there are no parochial concerns by some people not affiliated with misci,” Barrett wrote in an online post about the museum’s plight. “The sole focus should be a sustainable future for misci.”
If this all seems familiar, that might be because something similar happened a few years back when the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology was in trouble. Barrett made a similar pitch for that North Greenbush museum at the time, even as Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, a Democrat from Albany, was hoping to bring it to her city’s downtown.
“I see a bit of a crisis for the museum as an opportunity for Albany,” Fahy told me at the time. “Nobody is bankrolling it just yet. But everybody understands that if done right, this could have tremendous potential.”
Fahy wasn’t able to garner the support in Albany needed to make that happen, and CMOST ended up relocating to Saratoga Springs as part of a merger with The Children’s Museum of Saratoga. The new museum, now located in Saratoga Spa State Park, is by all counts a smashing success and a worthy destination.
It’s not difficult to imagine a similar path for misci, which could slot in nicely among Saratoga’s ever-growing roster of charms — attractions that convinced the area’s Make-awish Foundation chapter to relocate from Albany.
“Not only is there so much stuff to do, there’s lots of stuff for different types of kids to do. There’s a dance museum, there’s a car museum,” CEO Jamie Hathaway said to Times Union reporter Andy Tsubasa Field. “There’s all sorts of things that this town ... gives to the wishing process.”
Last week, Barrett went to the Albany Common Council to request that the city hand over the Schuyler statue, which last year was removed from its perch in front of City Hall because the Revolutionary War hero was also an enslaver. The bronze Schuyler sits in storage as Albany dithers over where to put it.
Wisely, Barrett didn't mention moving misci and the Schuyler statue to the same place — he isn’t proposing specific locations for either — but he did cast the efforts as similar. In each case, he said, the aim is to tackle a problem in the region.
“If there’s an issue and Saratoga County can help, then we’d like to help,” Barrett said. “I don’t know why we can’t work together more.”
Some in Schenectady may see Barrett’s pitch more as meddling than helping. But if the city and its elected leaders don’t step up to help misci, I don’t see how they can justifiably complain if the museum lands elsewhere. Snooze, and you risk losing.