Allegheny Musarium update

Not just another roadside attraction

As soon as 2012 a combination museum and aquarium may grace the Allegheny High Plateau near Warren, Pennsylvania. The project, according to a prestigious consulting firm, may bring more than 200,000 people a year to Warren County, the second least-densely populated county in the state.

Can a small Pennsylvania town of 10,000 provide the services needed for such a crowd? According to ConsultEcon, the firm hired by private donations to study the problem, "The proposed Allegheny Musarium has the potential to be a successful destination attraction that will enhance the Warren area as a place to live, work and play, thus improving all aspects of the local economy and community."

ConsultEcon is a Cambridge, Massachusetts based research organization whose past clients include The National Aquarium, The Mystic Aquarium, the New England Aquarium, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Museum of Discovery and Science, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the National Audubon Society. A 100-page report was recently delivered to Musarium organizers in Warren, and a local $100,000 fund-raising campaign was immediately launched.

The Allegheny Musarium will be a year-round history museum, according to a Spring 2008 newsletter just released by the organization. The core of the facility will consist of a discovery center and a freshwater aquarium that will be enhanced by state-of-the-art high-tech exhibits that will describe the natural and social history of the Allegheny Plateau region.

The consultant's report concludes that "the Musarium should strive to be a civic project, embedded in the community, rather than only as a 'tourist attraction'."

Community development and educational benefits of the Allegheny Musarium may have profound and long-lasting impacts on the area, by enhancing the knowledge of and interest in the natural  and social history of the Allegheny Plateau region, according to the Musarium newsletter. The concept of turning Warren into a major tourist destination is a new one for this oil, lumber, and manufacturing town. The Warren area is best known for its heavy industry which includes an oil refinery and weapons manufacturing.

The first challenge will be to convince local industry to embrace the project, according to the Musarium's business manager, John Fitzgerald. That money will go directly to signing up an architect and an exhibits developer.  Once the project starts in earnest, the Musarium will hire a professional fund raising firm to attract national and international interests.

Local organizers Nancy Mooney and Irish Smith anticipate that the 80,000 square foot Musarium, to be located in a small village just outside Warren, will be a source of community pride and identity and will, in addition, provide a valuable center for learning and enjoyment in the Warren area.

ConsultEcon, Inc., has conducted more than 600 studies including existing and planned aquariums and museums nationally and internationally.

The Musarium will be located on a sloped 30-acre site off of Route 6 in Starbrick, Pennsylvania, just outside of Warren, and will overlook the Allegheny River at the western entrance to Warren.

The project will derive substantial income from tickets, retail, food service,memberships and programs, according to the consultant's report. In addition, many museums and aquariums establish endowments and financial reserves to support operations, according to ConsultEcon.

Attendance at the Musarium should be able to capitalize on the reported million tourist visits each year to the Kinzua region. Earlier this year a tourism consultant hired by the Warren County Commissioners said "the county’s limited tourism industry already creates nearly $50 million a year in economic impact."

Canoeing enthusiasts crowd boat launch at Kinzua Dam during a United States Canoe Association national competition. The USCA will return in August of 2009. A proposed Allegheny Musarium in nearby Starbrick may help Warren County tap into the area's natural attraction for regional and national tourists. Photo by Chris Lareau, Copyright 2006.

see related article: Architect chosen for Allegheny Musarium