COURTESY CAPE COD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
BREWSTER – Two local non-profit museums are talking about joining forces.
The Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and the Thornton W. Burgess Society/Green Briar Nature Center would become the Cape Cod Museums of Natural History, a coalition of nature centers from Sandwich to the Outer Cape.
Both organizations will also keep their individual names and their locations in Sandwich and Brewster.
The impetus for the merger, according to Robert Dwyer, President and Executive Director of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, is that Gene Schott, the executive director of Thornton Burgess, is retiring. The retirement, Dwyer said, “gives us the opportunity for two really equal organizations to work together, have an economy of scale in operations.”
In the proposed merger, Dwyer, who has led the Museum of Natural History since 2006, would be head of the new organization.
COURTESY CAPE COD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
There is no plan to eliminate staff, Dwyer said, “however, we do see the possibility of roles being changed and responsibilities being changed.”
Dwyer said the two organizations already have a working relationship. As an example of that relationship, Dwyer said, the two entities joined to put together a special exhibit in 2010 on the 75th anniversary of the Mother West Wind series written by Thornton Burgess.
“We’ve been more or less working with the Thornton Burgess for the last seven or eight years,” he said.
The merger is planned with the acknowledgement that the organizations share similar missions and program offerings. Neither will cease to exist or dramatically change what they do, according to Dwyer.
“What we’re looking at is the strong possibility, all things working out, of having a merger so we would be one organization. We would be equals,” he said.
The combined organization, if the merger goes through, would be looking to cooperate and increase services.
“We are striving to achieve a number of goals including expanded programming, operational efficiencies and a geographical Cape-wide presence,” he wrote in a letter to museum members.
Dwyer stated in the letter, “We look upon this incredible opportunity as an exciting challenge that would bring about one strong voice addressing environmental issues and educational outreach throughout the Cape while increasing the number of members and visitors we serve.”
The coalition would maintain the identities of both organizations with a common vision and with the potential to expand, enrich and integrate programs on the East Sandwich and Brewster campuses, according to Dwyer.
“It will offer the opportunity to really expand, not only the visitors that we serve but also expanding the membership. What we’re looking at is being able to come up with creative programs and hopefully attract larger donors in terms of supporting both institutions,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History serves at least 55,000 visitors a year. While Thornton Burgess does not charge admission, it is estimated that it has about 25,000 visitors a year, Dwyer said.
The natural history museum has 1,500 to 1,600 members, while Thornton Burgess has about 900 members, Dwyer said.
“This is really looking at two equals that have an opportunity to get together,” he said.
Dwyer said the Museum of Natural History has been debt free for eight years. He said Thornton Burgess “has made some changes in terms of their expenses and their revenues and are at a break even point.”
Dwyer said financially a merger would bring cost savings.
“What we look at is the trustees being very comfortable with the fact that when the two forces join, it’s not going to cost money. It will in fact allow us to save money in a lot of different ways,” he said.
All of the board members on both boards will be asked to join a new board that will have 28 people if everyone agrees to continue serving, Dwyer said.
COURTESY THORNTON BURGESS SOCIETY
With an eye toward a balanced operating budget and financial security for the future, the mission of the Cape Cod Museums of Natural History will be to “inspire appreciation, understanding and stewardship of our natural environment and wildlife, through discovery and learning,” and to preserve and promote the legacies of naturalists Thornton W. Burgess and John Hay.
In a statement about the merger, Dwyer wrote that the merger “will integrate a renowned natural history museum, a celebrated nature education center and the critical stewardship of conservation land.”
Co-founded by naturalist and author John Hay early in 1954, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster offers a variety of year-round programs and exhibits to fulfill the mission of the organizations.
The late John Hay, author of 18 books, is considered among the top nature writers in America.
Thornton Burgess is the author of more than 70 children’s books, including Old Mother West Wind and The Adventures of Peter Cottontail.
A Sandwich native, Burgess was also an influential presence in the early 20th century conservation movement. During the earliest days of radio he used his Radio Nature League program to create bird and wildlife sanctuaries, promote legislation to protect migratory birds and advance the work of prestigious scientists and researchers.
The Thornton Burgess Society was founded in Sandwich in 1976 to celebrate Burgess’s life and works.
If the merger of the Thornton W. Burgess Green Briar Nature Center and the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History were to go through, it will bring together two of New England’s most preeminent educational institutions, according to Dwyer.
“Under this union, successful programs and exhibits at both organizations will be sustained, along with the historic Green Briar Jam Kitchen,” according to a mission statement drawn up about the possible union.
Dwyer said in the mission statement, “The combined organizations, the Cape Cod Museums of Natural History, will seek to engage children and adults in high quality programs, classes, lectures, panel discussions, workshops, films, walks, field trips, traditions and interactive exhibits. Through these activities, the many facets of the natural world and the reciprocal impacts that humans and nature exert on each other will be emphasized.”
Another focus will be the potential as centers for developing and motivating citizen scientists and amateur naturalists in the spirit of noted authors, and conservationists, Dwyer said. The museums also will be a forum for discussion of important issues related to the natural world, especially on Cape Cod.
The combined entity would also be a steward of museum-owned land and gardens in Brewster and East Sandwich, as well as conservation land adjoining the museum in Brewster’s Stony Brook Valley and the Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife Game Farm in East Sandwich. It will monitor and protect the land and focus programming on its varied habitats, which are used as outdoor classrooms.
Additional museum programs may be held elsewhere on Cape Cod and other locations in New England.
The Thornton Burgess membership will be asked to vote at its annual meeting on Friday, June 26, on a bylaw change that would allow the Burgess trustees to move forward with the merger. The Museum of Natural History trustees took a vote last year allowing continued negotiations on the merger.
If that vote is positve and all the subsequent due diligence steps are taken on the merger, the vote on the actual merger would likely take place by the end of the year, Dwyer said.
