HARLINGEN — The Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum is in need of renovation.
Now, the city is selling plaques shaped like airplanes in hopes of helping raise $500,000 for that work.
Earlier this week, city commissioners approved the design of the 8-foot by 20-foot mural on which donors’ names will be engraved on the acrylic plaques.
The fundraising drive aims to update the museum and its exhibit, Joel Humphries, director of the city’s arts and entertainment department, said yesterday.
“We are stewards of our community’s culture and history,” Humphries said. “We want to breathe new life into it. It is critical that our museum stay current so the lessons to be learned are not lost.”
The mural will stand in front of the museum building that once housed part of the Harlingen Air Force Base, which closed in 1962.
“It’s going to look like an old military runway,” designer Rose Snell, owner of Fast Signs, said.
The plaques will range in size from 8 inches to 3 feet, depending on the amount of the donation, she said.
The city is seeking donations from $100 to $10,000, said Ruthie Ewers, a community member who leads the fundraising drive.
The city, whose goal is to raise $500,000, has raised about $375,000, she said.
H-E-B, which donated $100,000, has secured the building’s naming rights.
In 1964, it was the grocery chain’s Howard E. Butt who donated the building that served as part of the airbase.
Yesterday, the Harlingen Chamber of Commerce announced a $1,000 donation.
“The fact we’re so close to our fundraising goal speaks volumes about our community,” Humphries said.
The city is working to renovate the museum that holds so much of its history.
“It’s a big undertaking,” Ewers said.
Ewers plans to tell a bigger story of the area’s Hispanic contribution.
“We’re 85 percent Hispanic and we want to show more of the culture,” Ewers said. “I want to include the whole community. I want them to feel it’s their museum.”
Humphries said the city launched the renovation about 10 months ago, planning to complete the project within a year.
So far, the project has renovated the museum’s interior, stuccoing its walls and building a new roof, Ewers said.
As part of the project, an iron gate out of hay rake wheels, handcrafted by artist Guy Mattei, will stand as an entry gate.
Next, the city plans to renovate the museum’s exterior, Ewers said.
The museum’s courtyard features city founder Lon C. Hill’s home, Harlingen’s first hospital and a replica of the Paso Real Stagecoach Inn.
The Harlingen Arts and Heritage Museum is getting a facelift as it prepares to celebrate its 50th birthday this year.
For the $500,000 facelift, the city is asking for donations aimed at renovating the museum’s interior and exterior.
