Orange County NC Website
11 <br />3) Few thought they could contribute funds to have a "share" in this center. The most <br />anyone offered was $1000 for the year. Most agencies said that they had no money. <br />4) There is a strong desire to have the documents or copies of them to be accessible in one <br />place for the public, along with someone to help with guiding their research; <br />5) No one specifically knew of other "archival collections' in the community that could be <br />stored in the Heritage Center. <br />I spoke to the City of Hillsborough, to the County Clerk's Office and to the Planning Office to <br />make sure none of them had documents that could be included in the Heritage Center. When I <br />started the project I was hopeful to find that certain governmental departments needed to <br />store their documents. Storage could then be provided in the Heritage Center, adding stronger <br />justification to create such a facility. Often these documents provide researchers information. <br />Unfortunately, none had archival documents. <br />I also met with the Occoneechee Tribal Office manager, Mr. Hazel. He expressed interest in <br />participating in the Heritage Center, but again, only had copies of information to offer. <br />Another question I asked that wasn't specifically on the survey was how many clients interested <br />in heritage center type services do you serve in a year. The total was under 200 individuals; <br />however, many researchers who do research regularly often do not register each time. Also, <br />some agencies can't serve clients because of lack of staffing or space, or hours open. Agencies <br />who wish to serve researchers but have difficulty include the Orange County Historical <br />Museum, the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, the Durham-Orange Genealogical Society, and <br />the Chapel Hill Historical Society among others. This is the very reason some agencies want the <br />Heritage Center. <br />The analysis of the Scope Document led to an understanding of how much space would be <br />needed in a stand-alone facility. The Library stated they would retain their current research <br />materials at the library if a Heritage Center were established. Therefore the necessary space <br />does not include figures that the Orange County Library provided. <br />When asked if the individual agencies could or would contribute to the operation of a Heritage <br />Center, most said that they had no funds available. The Durham/Orange County Genealogical <br />Society stated that they were willing to raise and contribute some funds. The largest stated <br />offer of funding was $1000 per year. Currently there does not appear to be sufficient funding <br />at any level for a Heritage Center, publicly or privately. <br />Evaluation of Buildings: <br />My next task was to review buildings that might be usable as a Heritage Center. Many agencies <br />I interviewed believed that the County might have a building for them to use. Many sited the <br />Purchasing Building. I met with Gwen Harvey, Assistant County Manager and was told that the <br />County could not give any buildings to the project. She arranged forme to see the Purchasing <br />Building and the Graham Building. (Evaluation of Buildings, Attachment D) I ascertained, based <br />on the Scope Document, that a building or space of approximately 1000 square feet would be <br />