3 applicants for Sultana director position
3 applicants for Sultana director position
Museum to get full- time, dedicated promoter
news@theeveningtimes.com
Marion has received three applications for its job posting for a full time director for the Sultana Disaster Museum and expects to schedule interviews next week.
Marion Chamber of Commerce President Mike Demster said they have forwarded the resumes to Mayor Frank Fogleman.
“We will be assisting the mayor in the search,” Demster said. “I don’t know yet whether he will be getting a group together or will be making that decision himself. But we will help on the support side.”
Marion Advertising and Promotions Commission agreed to provide $60,000 for the position over the next three years.
The job will be a full-time city employee who will report to the mayor and work out of an office in the City Annex.
According to the job description, applicants should hold a B.A. and preferably a masters degree in public administration, business, marketing, museum management or related field.
Desired applicants should also possess five years experience in program development, administration, and fund-raising. Other job-related education or experience will also be considered.
Salary will be in the $40,000 range with the rest of the budget going toward travel and promotion.
The city opened a small museum last year on Washington
Street and is considering
building a bigger, permanent museum next to the Woolfolk Library. A& P has agreed to spend up to $400,000 to help build the museum.
A preliminary design study estimates that it will cost $2.8 million to build a 10,000 square foot facility.
The study also determined that the museum will attract about 35,000 visitors a year.
The Sultana was a Civil War paddlewheel steamboat that exploded just north of Memphis in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865 and resulted in the deaths of over 1,700 people, mostly Union soldiers who had been held captive and were returning home from the war. The sinking of the Sultana is the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history.
Marion has a special connection to the disaster as many of its early residents helped rescue the survivors. The remains of the boat are buried under a soybean field in Marion.
By Mark Randall
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