Environmental Monitoring and Emergency Planning at the South Coast Railroad Museum

FAIN: PG-50479-09

South Coast Railroad Museum (Goleta, CA 93117-1502)
Gary Brian Coombs (Project Director: May 2008 to September 2010)

Consultation with a preservation professional to develop an environmental monitoring program and an emergency preparedness plan for the South Coast Railroad Museum, which is housed in the historic Goleta Depot. The depot was built in 1901 during the completion of the South Pacific Railroad's coast route that linked San Francisco to Los Angeles. It houses exhibitions of rolling stock, track signaling and communication equipment, lanterns, and other depot furnishings along with archival materials that document the history of railroading.

Grant funds, if awarded, will be used to fill two crucial needs in the care and management of the collections of the South Coast Railroad Museum: (1) year-long monitoring and analysis of environmental conditions, including temperature, humidity and pest intrusions, in the four principal museum areas in which collections items are stored or displayed; and (2) development of an Emergency Preparedness & Response Plan. More specifically, the grant will be used to secure the services of a consultant, Julie Page (California Preservation Program), who will assist in achieving these collections-care goals, and to purchase temperature-humidity dataloggers, and supplies for emergency preparedness and pest monitoring and eradication.