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News Featured Photo: The museum played host recently to an unusual event for the water works (any water works!) when minicine?, a local arts group, staged a concert. The MSPS New Music Festival was a bigger and better reprise of a the first such concert they did at the museum in 2009. There were multiple performers, and they all tailored their compositions to capitalize on the unusual surrounding offered by McNeill, which was augmented by special mood lighting for the event. The program pulled a big crowd of about 500 to enjoy the music (and great food), with many of the attendees promising to come back and do a "tour" to find out more about a nifty piece of America's history. Volunteers from the railroad society continue to make good progress in remodeling the old control building for the outdoor filters to house their exhibits of railroad artifacts. All the construction is done except a wheelchair ramp, and the display cabinets are being set up now. The railroad society is also very interested in building a riding, small-gauge steam railroad adjacent to their exhibit building, and planning is going forward on this. The operation of the museum is currently facing a serious challenge due to the Secretary of State's museum budget being slashed in the Legislative session in 2011. The Shreveport Water Works Museum had its tiny staff of two part-time employees cut in half when SOS laid off one of the workers and reduced operating hours to three days to week. The annual budget was cut from its original shoestring to an even smaller shoestring of less than $40,000 per year. The McNeill Street Pumping Station Preservation Society is attempting to step into the breach and so far has been successful in staying open five days per week with a combination of volunteers and a contract employee. This is putting extra stress on the Society's always small budget, but so far so good. If you'd like to help by making a donation, click on the on-line membership form link on the Preservation Society page and follow the directions. The museum is OPEN (see above!) The hours are 9:00am until 3pm Tuesday, 9:30am until 4pm Wednesday through Friday, and 10am until 4:00pm on Saturday. The Preservation Society will continue to offer tours by appointment in addition to the regular hours (and will continue to be vitally needed to assist the State in making the museum a success!). Call 318-221-3388 to inquire. Directions --- First time visitors to the Pumping Station sometimes have difficulty finding it, so here's where it is: 142 N. Common Street. This is on the east side of the street 1/4 mile north of the intersection of Common with Caddo St. There is a "Shreveport Water Works Museum" sign in the front yard, as well as a large blue and white sign marking the driveway entrance. Help needed!!! The McNeill Preservation Society is looking for volunteers who would like to help with the restoration of the vintage steam engines at the Pumping Station. This will involve everything from cleaning and painting to (eventually) making them run again. If you'd like to help, use the on-line information form elsewhere on the web site or call (318)221-3388. On June 19, 2000, the Community Foundation of Shreveport-Bossier awarded the Preservation Society a $10,000 grant from the Rubye Moss Ratcliff Fund. The grant was made to support the filming of oral histories of personnel involved with McNeill and provide documentation that could then be used to produce films that could be shown at the Museum, or elsewhere, to relate the history of the Pumping Station. Since that time volunteers from the Preservation Society have been working on the project and have successfully brought the goal envisioned by the project to fruition, although creating archive material on McNeill's history is ongoing and will probably never be "finished." Thanks to all who worked on the job, including Jim Montgomery, David Nelson, Kristina Hardwick, Dr. Dayna Lee, and M&M Communications Concepts. Copies of the videos are available for purchase at $10 for VHS tapes or DVD versions. Discounts are available for Preservation Society members. Call (318)221-3388 or use the on-line form elsewhere on this web site to request a copy. Back to Home Page History | Preservation Society | Take a Tour | Links | Photo Gallery |
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