Training and the Development of a Disaster Preparedness Plan for the Nichols House Museum

FAIN: PG-50631-09

Nichols House Museum, Inc. (Boston, MA 02108)
Flavia Cigliano (Project Director: May 2008 to December 2010)

Consultation, training, and the development of an emergency preparedness and response plan for Nichols House, an 1804 brick townhouse attributed to architect Charles Bulfinch. Ninety percent of the museum's household furnishings, decorative and fine arts, textiles, and archives are original to the Nichols family, who lived in the house from 1885 to 1960.

The Nichols House Museum (NHM) proposes to retain Donia Conn of the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) as a consultant to assist the museum in the development of a disaster preparedness and response plan. The scope of the work will include (1) a full-day training workshop designed to introduce staff, board members, and volunteers to disaster planning; (2) a risk assessment of the Nichols House facility; (3) technical support throughout the development of the disaster plan; and (4) a final on-site consultation to review and assess the disaster plan. The NHM will develop its disaster plan using dPlan, an online program designed to help small museums formulate disaster plans tailored to the capacities and needs of the institution.