Received the following via email.
GOVERNOR RENDELL ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF $5 MILLION FOR RAILROAD MUSEUM OF PENNSYLVANIA EXHIBITS AND ROUNDHOUSE
Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today that $5 million in state capital funds have been released to the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission and the Department of General Services for new exhibits and the design of a roundhouse at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
"The improvements planned for this facility are critical to the preservation and the interpretation of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's world-class collection of more than 100 historic locomotives and railroad cars," says Museum director Charles Fox.
The Governor's Office of the Budget has designated $500,000 for the design of a 16,000-square-foot roundhouse in the outdoor yard, to be located at the Museum's existing turntable. A significant number of the Museum's collection of historic locomotives and rolling stock, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are the last of their kind in the world, currently reside outdoors and are deteriorating from exposure to the elements.
The addition of a roundhouse at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania will provide permanent, climate-controlled storage for these historic artifacts. Bid proposals have been released by the Department of General Services for the architectural design of the roundhouse. The Governor's Office of the Budget anticipates releasing an additional $6.1 million for the actual construction of the roundhouse in the next fiscal year.
The Governor's Office of the Budget also has released $4.5 million for the design, fabrication and installation of new permanent exhibits to be located throughout the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The Hilferty Design firm of Athens, Ohio has been selected to work with Museum and Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission staff on the exhibit design. Planning is already underway.
"The new exhibits will allow us to examine Pennsylvania's railroading history from its earliest beginnings to the present day in a thorough and comprehensive manner. The exhibits will explore the social, economic and technological history of Pennsylvania railroading, using the Museum's outstanding collection of artifacts and rolling stock to illustrate the story," says Fox.
"Both of these projects represent major steps forward for the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania," Fox points out, "allowing us to raise the standards of our already world-class institution even higher. Once they are in place, and in conjunction with the completion of a new geothermal HVAC system in the Museum, the entire interpretive experience we offer to visitors will have been reshaped and improved, and we will have become much more effective caretakers of this unequalled collection of American railroading artifacts."
Read more about this on the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania's web site.
http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/
Something like this is not likely to happen in New Jersey, especially considering current state of affairs in Trenton.