Following is a response to the announcement sent by Salisbury University on March 23, 2023 to all the media on the Eastern Shore regarding their decision to close the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art on Schumaker Pond. The facts as stated below can be backed up with supporting evidence. It is important for the community to get all of the facts and to question why an institution of higher learning has decided to decimate what is without a doubt one of the most unique museums, not just of the state of Maryland, but of the entire country. The community should ask SU to produce documents to support their claims. At the least a third party should look at all documents and determine who is being factual.
1. There is not now and there never has been a “catastrophic” failure of the Ward Museum HVAC system.
2. The system is made up of two parts that regulates the humidity throughout the Ward Museum, including the galleries. The boiler that provides the heat and the A/C component that provides the air conditioning. This is known as a hot deck - cold deck system. They work in conjunction to keep the humidity at a level which prevents mold/mildew from occurring anywhere in the building.
3. The first occurrence of a problem with the system was on July 3, 2022 when the temperature throughout the Ward Museum became very cold. At the time the facilities manager was on a short vacation but upon returning on July 7 the problem was quickly resolved and within a few minutes the entire system was back online. Afterwards, on a routine walk through by the staff, they noticed there was a small amount of white powdery surface mold on a couple of decoys.
4. At that time the Ward Museum contacted E.A.S.I. (Electrical Automation Services, Inc.), of Pasadena, MD. The problem was easily traced to a small part in the boiler which prevented the boiler from adding heat and thus maintaining the proper humidity throughout the Ward Museum. Because of the age of the boiler it took a couple of months to locate the new part. The new part was purchased and installed in late September of 2022. While waiting for the new part there was no other failure of the Ward Museum HVAC system. As an example the Ward Museum has continued to operate educational programs, bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, etc. in the Legacy Center since December 2022. They could not have done this if the museum had an improperly working HVAC system.
5. E.A.S.I. estimated it will cost approximately $220,000 to upgrade the current HVAC system. This breaks down to $42,900 for a new re-heat coil, $149,000 for a new condensing boiler and a buffer of approximately $25,000 for the new software and other miscellaneous items that might incur in upgrading the system. The time estimate for the work is 6 weeks. Despite this estimate Salisbury University has continued to tell the public that the system is a catastrophic failure and that the cost to replace the system will be $3-5 million.
6. Continuing to determine all the facts related to the July incident the Ward Museum contacted Sussex Environmental of Seaford, DE to check the air quality and the type of mold that was present in the museum. Their report stated there was no major problem with the air quality and only slight surface mold was found on a few pieces in the galleries. The Ward Museum contacted CDRN, an art restoration firm in Baltimore, to assess the cleaning of the museum and its contents. CDRN said the museum staff could easily clean the entire museum and its contents, walls and floors, with the exception of any flat art such as paintings. This would require professional cleaning. In filing insurance claims for the repair/replacement of the HVAC system three (3) insurance companies stated there was no claim to be paid. They concluded that the failure was a one-time minor glitch and did not support the claim that it was a catastrophic failure of the system. They said that the systems are working properly but because they are 30+ years old they should be upgraded and/or replaced.
7. Acting upon this information the staff at the Ward Museum cleaned over 500 decoys including the entire collection of the carvings by Lem and Steve Ward. Only six (6) of the decoys had any trace of the surface mold. Everything that was cleaned was boxed up and relocated to the Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University for storage. The entire Ward Museum has now been cleaned with the exception of the galleries. As the staff prepared to clean the remaining items in the galleries, and the galleries themselves, they were told by the acting director of the Ward Museum to stop the cleaning process because Salisbury University had informed her they going to move the Ward Museum to a building in downtown Salisbury. As of this date the galleries have not been cleaned and are still closed to the public. The Championship Gallery and the Decoy Discovery Gallery still have their artifacts in place.
8. Salisbury University has continued to say that the Ward Museum building is at the end of its life because it is 30 years old. When the Ward Museum was constructed did any report say it only had a life span of 30 years? Should all the museums on the mall in Washington D.C. be demolished because they are 100+ years old? SU has stated that the cost to make the Ward Museum structural system reliable is $19,000,000.00. Salisbury University claims that “in addition to the HVAC system, other building systems, including the roof, plumbing, drainage, siding, “envelope” (foundation, roof, and walls) and more also are facing expensive issues.” This is false. None of these areas need repair. They failed to mention that the cost figure they are putting out would mean making the Ward Museum operate on a totally new type of system, a geo-thermal. This would require tearing up the parking area, re-doing the entire duct work, building a new addition for the geo-thermal equipment, etc. During the implementation of the geo-thermal system there would be many times when areas of the Ward Museum would be unusable. There are numerous options for a new system and geo-thermal is by far the most expensive and unnecessary. A geo-thermal system is totally unnecessary as an independent report by Dick Hottel, the owner of Harvey W. Hottel, Inc. of Gaithersburg, MD concluded.
9. The Ward Museum has approximately 43,000 square feet of space with the galleries comprising approximately 14,000 square feet. Salisbury University is proposing to move the Ward Museum to downtown Salisbury in a space of approximately 5,000 square feet of which at the most there will be 2,000 square feet for the galleries. Almost all student educational aspects of the Ward Museum will be eliminated.
10. Salisbury University states they will display the Ward Museum collection on a rotating basis as it is done at the Schumaker Pond location. Please note there is no “rotating” of the collection at the Schumaker Pond location. At the most, except for displaying the 8 or 9 winning carvings of each years’ competition of the Ward World Wildfowl Art Championship in Ocean City, MD, most years there are no changes to the items on display. If any changes are made it is only 2-3 pieces a year at the most. The upcoming Ward World Wildfowl Carving Championship April 21-23, 2023 in Ocean City, MD is in jeopardy because Salisbury University has recently changed the locks on all the museum doors. The staff no longer has keys to the Ward Museum so to get access they must call someone at SU who then sends someone over to unlock the doors for them. This is making it extremely difficult for the staff to make all the necessary arrangements for the Ocean City event which also happens to be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Ward Museum, delayed because of Covid-19.
11. The Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond is made up of five (5) galleries and a section that simulates what you might experience if you were walking through a marshy area near a waters edge on the Eastern Shore. Of the five (5) galleries there are two (2) that are changed 3-4 times a year to present a broader range of art such as exhibits of American quilts over 200 years old, local artists such as Patrick Henry of Berlin, MD and invaluable collections of non-decoy artifacts – all of this to broaden the appeal to all members of the local community. These displays, which are planned 2-4 years in advance, require a lot of time and effort not only by the Ward Museum staff but by many volunteers. All of this will disappear with the Salisbury University plan, as will the many diverse free programs the Ward Museum hosts for children on weekends throughout the year.
12. Salisbury University claims the downtown location “will be more accessible” then the Schumaker Pond Location. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a docent & volunteer at the Ward Museum since 1997 with over 5,000 hours of donated time I have seen how the accessibility of the Schumaker Pond location is a major asset that will be lost at the downtown location. Individuals, whether part of tour bus groups, school children, the handicapped, etc. can depart from their vehicles a very short distance of the front door of the Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond and have easy access to the museum. Compare this with the parking lot downtown, on the other side of Main Street next to the library, and having to navigate your wheelchair, walker, etc. to arrive at the front door of the store front on Main Street. And the downtown location certainly limits, if not eliminates, the thousands of school children who annually visit the Ward Museum for educational programs and the nature trails on Schumaker Pond. You can be assured that parents do not want their children having to navigate the downtown traffic. Does Salisbury University really believe, as stated, that the downtown location offers more security and educational benefits than the nature trail and open spaces of the Schumaker Pond location?
13. Salisbury University also states that “several Wicomico Community members with strong ties to the museum have lauded the move and long-term plans for the collection’s preservation and display”. The question is what about the almost 5,000 people who have signed the petition opposing the move? In addition there are numerous “Wicomico Community members” with not only strong ties to the Ward Museum but individuals who, along with their families, have donated tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Ward Museum, and they vehemently oppose this relocation. The $2 million Legacy Center added to the museum just a few years ago was done with 80% of the funds raised by the Ward Museum. Its rentals have added upwards of a net $100,000 a year to the Ward Museum.
15. Many years ago Salisbury University saw fit to bestow honorary degrees to Lem and Steve Ward, the namesakes of The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art on Schumaker Pond. They were also featured in an issue of National Geographic. These humble gentlemen of Crisfield, MD were barbers by trade and when they were not cutting someone’s hair they would carve a hunting decoy in an area off to the side of their barber shop. For many years they sold their decoys for less than $5.00 a piece, items that now can command prices in the tens of thousands. In later years they carved what are referred to as decorative carvings, which have great detail and color. You would never use these for hunting but would proudly display them in your home – some of these carvings can now command six figures. The Ward Museum on Schumaker Pond is a monument not only to Lem and Steve Ward but also to a unique art form and a link to the heritage of the Eastern Shore. The breadth and depth of the collection and its cultural tradition is invaluable. The annual Ward World Wildfowl Carving Championship Competition each April in Ocean City, MD brings carvers and visitors from not only the United States but from countries around the world come to compete and admire these fine works of art.
16. It is incomprehensible that there are individuals within the Salisbury University community that want to destroy what is an amazing facility and move it to nothing more than a store front display. As Salisbury University complains it has become a burden to them to own the Ward Museum then I would suggest they should return it to a newly formed Ward Foundation to insure the continued operation of not only a great asset to the heritage of the Eastern Shore but to the world of art. I can assure you this would be looked upon as a grand gesture and a very special gift by Salisbury University to the community and the art world.
N. Philip Adkins
Salisbury