Sustainably Rehousing the Denver Museum of Nature & Science American Ethnology Collection

FAIN: PF-50321-12

Denver Museum of Nature and Science (Denver, CO 80205-5732)
Stephen E. Nash (Project Director: December 2011 to May 2018)

The purchase of up to 135 custom-designed cabinets to house a portion of the 21,996 Native American cultural artifacts in the American Ethnology Collection, which would be relocated to a new state-of-the-art Rocky Mountain Science Collections Center in the fall of 2013.

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science seeks a $349,059 Sustaining Cultural Heritage Collections implementation grant to purchase 135 cabinets in which to sustainably re-house the nationally significant American Ethnology Collection (AEC) in the Rocky Mountain Science Collections Center (RMSCC). Currently under construction and on target for LEED-Platinum certification, the RMSCC is scheduled for completion in fall 2013. Energy sources will include a ground source heat pump, solar-heated hot water, and a photovoltaic array. Systems will provide sustainable preservation. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system will buffer temperature and humidity fluctuations. Cabinets will be installed on mobile carriages to maximize efficiency. Energy efficient lights will be controlled by occupation sensors and timers. Concentric zones of increased security will protect the collection from theft. Cabinets will provide a final buffer against threats to the AEC.