Representatives from the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the City of Waynesboro will announce a completed milestone for a proposed natural history interpretive center to be located in Downtown Waynesboro. The press conference will be held on Thursday, July 24 at 1:45 p.m.
The museum and the City of Waynesboro partnered with Chmura Economics in 2013 to commission a feasibility study that confirmed the viability and financial sustainability of a branch museum facility in Waynesboro. The study, published in April 2013, indicated that a museum facility in Waynesboro would be successful and serve a core service area of 11 cities and counties with a combined population of 450,000 including 63,000 K-12 students and 300,000 visitors to the Shenandoah National Park who utilize the south entrance near Waynesboro.
Based on the recommendations of the Chmura study, the museum’s Board of Trustees voted to move forward with the development of a master plan to provide further insight into what an interpretive facility should include. The board also noted that funds used to pay for the master plan should be raised in the Waynesboro region.