Palmer hosted 30,000 visitors last year, city council is told

Palmer’s Museum of History and Art hosted 30,000 visitors and 406 tour buses last year to showcase the community’s rich history and attractions, and a busy season is expected again this year, Mari Jo Parks, president of the museum nonprofit, told Palmer’s city council at its May 26 meeting.

Parks was presenting the museum’s annual report to the city. The museum also serves as the community’s visitor information center and is usually the first stop for visitors coming to Palmer, she said.

About 3,000 donated objects relevant to the community’s history are held in the museum along with 14,000 images from Palmer’s history with about 1,200 of these on display, Parks said. Among special projects, an 8-panel traveling display has been developed to highlight local history with plans to display it in local high schools and other places on a rotating basis.

Parks said the museum has also developed a 30-minute Youtube video featuring Palmer’s history and there are plans to develop other visual and social media products.

A challenge for the museum is its limited space in a small 600-square-foot structure, which means much of the historical collections must be held in storage. The space is also very limiting for special events, Parks said.

Palmer Mayor Jim Cooper told the council at its meeting that he met with the museum’s board to discuss possibilities for a new building or an additional building near the present museum that would make additional public space available.

On other museum-related topics, Parks said plans are underway for the annual Palmer Arts and Garden Festival to be held July 18. The event is done jointly with the Palmer Arts Council and will feature live music with food available through food carts. Up to 50 vendors are expected to participate.

In his “mayor’s report” to the council Cooper reminded its members, and those in the audience, that the official groundbreaking for Palmer’s new public library is set for May 30 at 3 p.m. People will gather at The Depot, Palmer’s Community Center and will then walk to the library site, where site preparation is underway.

Cooper also reminded people about the upcoming “Celebrate Palmer” day set for July 17. He also said he is participating in the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, or MPO, meetings and will discuss funding for the project to upgrade Arctic Avenue.

The MPO is a regional Mat-Su planning organization that includes the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities along with local cities like Palmer. Recommendations by the MPO guide federal and state transportation project planning.

In a separate report, Palmer public works director Jude Bilafer told the council that library site preparation and construction-related work is proceeding on schedule with no problems. The new library will replace one damaged by a major roof collapse due to heavy snow.

Bilafer also reported that the city’s annual street crack-sealing and street striping work is underway to repair damage and wear from the past winter. Work on this is starting at the Palmer airport and will be expanded to streets and roads in the community.

Work is also continuing on the Evergreen and Cedar avenues street rehabilitation projects, with the work expected to be completed in late August or early September, Bilafer said.

There were continuing questions about the Palmer’s city-owned golf course raised during the Audience Participation part of the May 26 meeting.

Among questions raised were whether the city will be preparing a Request for Proposals for private golf-course management for 2027 or whether plans are for it to continue under city management; where things are on the matter of a Federal Aviation Agency release of obligations for the city on airport land that affects the golf course, and whether the city could establish a local golf course citizen advisory committee similar to those established for the city’s airport and museum.