CNMI Cultural Center seen to enhance local culture

Residents and tourists will soon marvel on the richness of the CNMI’s culture as the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs presented to the government the envisioned CNMI Cultural Center that will house related cultural agencies into one central and accessible center.

The plan for the future $18-million CNMI Cultural Center was presented during a media briefing at the Governor’s Office last week presided by the governor’s special advisor for CIP management Charles D. Jordan.

DCCA Secretary Juan L. Babauta, CNMI Museum of History and Culture curator Barbara Moir, Division of Historic Preservation historian Genevieve Cabrera, and HPO staff archaeologist John Mark Joseph were among those who attended the event.

Architect Eric Nelson of RIM Architects led the presentation together with Fred A. Smith, managing principal of Winzler & Kelly consulting engineers.

Nelson showed mock up sketches of the facility that will house various cultural offices under the DCCA, namely the CNMI Museum of History and Culture, the Historic Preservation Office, CNMI Council for Arts and Culture, CNMI Archives, and the NMI Council of the Humanities.

Nelson also presented the proposed site improvements within the vicinity of the center that includes an outdoor exhibit area, bus and car parking spaces, designated access roads, walkways, landscaping, and other site components and improvements necessary to support the cultural center’s purpose.

Nelson said that the project is needed to provide a modern, state-of-the-art facility to accommodate the needs of the Museum of History and Culture and other related cultural agencies.

The museum is currently located at the old Japanese Hospital Building in Garapan, which also rents a separate building just for storage of its entire collection. All other agencies such as the HPO are scattered in various locations across the island making it difficult for residents and tourists to visit them.

Nelson presented a summary of the project, which stated that the museum does not have the space or the appropriate facilities to accommodate the desired and necessary functions that are required of the museum.

“The current location does not have adequate exhibit space to display the museum collection,” he said.

He added that the rented space that serves as the curatorial storage to occur in various locations is not enough. The museum, as of the moment, based also on the report does not have the research and processing facilities to properly serve the requirements of the museum.

Air conditioning is also a problem, said the report, as the rented space does not provide the required temperature and humidity that are crucial to conserving all of the museum’s collections.

Representatives from DCCA and its agencies agreed on the meeting that such a center is a requirement to preserve precious and historic collections for the benefit of the entire CNMI residents.

Though exact construction date is not known, the groups are keen on gathering funds to come up with the estimated budget for the realization of the CNMI Cultural Center. Babauta thanked the proponents for the effort of uplifting CNMI’s cultural awareness through the project.

The new CNMI Cultural Center hopes to fix the deficiencies encountered by cultural offices and to allow the offices, such as the museum, to develop and expand its various functions. (Marconi Calindas)