ANA move ahead with plans to remodel Colorado Springs headquarters
Plans to remodel the American Numismatic Association’s (ANA) headquarters building in Colorado Springs, Colorado, picked up momentum today when the building fund account was opened at the Wells Fargo Bank of Colorado Springs with the generous donation of $10,000 from ANA Treasurer and Past President Adna G. Wilde Jr. and his wife, Joan.
The ANA Board of Governors, meeting during the Association’s convention in Philadelphia, August 9-13, approved $1.9 million plans to remodel the library and museum areas of the headquarters facility. Fund raising for the project began with a $1,000 pledge from Life Member Lawrence Baber, and personal pledges from Board members and ANA officers totaling $10,000.
ANA President H. Robert Campbell, says, “If we are to accommodate the growing and changing needs of our members in this new century, we need to remodel and technologically enhance our member-service areas. The ANA’s original building is more than three decades old, and some of our facilities literally are bursting at the seams. We have seen a hundred-fold increase in the number of visitors to our museum and library, and we need to make improvements to better serve them and our 30,000 members.”
Campbell adds that much of the work will be completed by the time the ANA Summer Seminar begins next July.
The ANA’s world-class library, which circulates numismatic books, catalogs, periodicals and educational programs to all its members, will be expanded by 70 percent, primarily by better utilizing the space immediately below the current facility. Much of this area formerly housed photographic dark rooms and other work space that has not been used since the ANA sold its grading service in 1990.
ANA Executive Director Edward C. Rochette says, “By installing more windows along the south wall of the library and skylights to channel light through open areas between the first and lower levels, we will have a much more accessible library. The library also will have a study area for the growing number of visitors who conduct research here.”
The ANA’s Money Museum, now open six days a week, will be expanded by 50 percent and remodeled to provide more exhibit space and easier access to its lower level.
“We want to take advantage of the many technological advancements now available, so visitors can better enjoy our extensive collections,” Rochette says. “In addition, the remodeled Money Museum will house an impressive exhibit of gold and paper money on loan from the Harry W. Bass Jr. Research Foundation.”A new stairway and elevator will be installed in the museum, which will allow the ANA to meet the updated requirements the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, the museum store will be expanded to four times its current size.
A redesigned main entrance, with skylights over the foyer, will help invite visitors into the building. The entrance also will showcase minting technology through the ages.
An expanded conference room on the first floor will house an updated ANA Numismatic Hall of Fame.
The ANA headquarters building was erected on The Colorado College campus in the late 1960s with donations from members. It marked the first consolidation of the then 96-year-old Association’s library, museum, authentication services, and editorial and administrative offices. In the early 1980s, member donations and proceeds from the ANA’s certification service paid for an addition to the original building.
Campbell says, “We have been encouraged by major grant sources for this project. We feel this is the time for the ANA to proceed with this remodeling.”
A building fund drive for the remodeling will begin this month, with Rochette visiting the Blue Ridge Numismatic Association’s annual convention in Dalton, Georgia.
“We will be borrowing against our endowment so that we can start the work immediately,” Rochette says. “We will repay that loan with interest from donations we receive.”
Originally Release Date: August 23, 2000
ANA Contacts: Phone: 719-482-9872
Email: pr@money.org