Page 18 - College Planning & Management, November 2017

Business MANAGING HIGHER ED
Finding a Home for a Science Museum
Berry College recently engaged in a rather interesting transformation, using
limited funding made possible by a donor to convert an under-utilized space
into a science museum.
BY GARY W. BRETON AND WILLIAM T. DAVIN
“FIVE SCIENTISTS DECIDE to build a museum...”
This may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but it was a reality
for several scientists at Berry College in Mt. Berry, GA, who were given the task of designing, overseeing construction and curating a museum in the college’s science building, McAllister Hall.
The Brief Background Story
Our story began in 1997, when the sci- ence building was in its design phase. At the time, the school dean befriended for- mer Berry students Irene and Dewey Large. The Larges believed that science museums
were an excellent way by which to educate the general public about the wonders of science, a belief fueled by Dewey’s earlier work as curator for the National Museum of Atomic Energy in Oak Ridge, TN. The Larges provided start-up funds for the museum by way of donated property to
be sold when it would be most profitable. In the meantime, the science building
was designed and then constructed (in 2001) to include architectural features such as special alcoves that could easily
be converted at a later date into spaces for museum displays. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that the property was liquidated and funds (about $40,000) became available to
18 COLLEGE PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / NOVEMBER 2017
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PHOTO COURTESY OF BERRY COLLEGE PHOTOGRAPHY