BRAM Names New Tower to Honor Richard Nye
The Black River Academy Museum of Ludlow, at its January Board meeting, unanimously voted to name the new elevator and fire stairs tower for Richard B. Nye for his extraordinary support of the project that he envisioned over ten years ago.
Nye had the foresight to realize that the museum needed to be accessible to everyone with an elevator and ground floor entrance. Ten years ago he urged the Board to start a capital campaign for an elevator, housed in a separate tower in order to maintain the integrity of the museum’s interior and to house the fire code mandated second egress.
Then in 2007, Nye challenged the board to raise the money for the tower with an initial $100,000 donation. “Richard inspired us all” said Anita Alic, Capital Campaign Chair, “and continued to do so right through the successful completion of the campaign and the tower last year”.
The tower and fire stairs were completed in 2011 and the elevator was installed in 2012. A ribbon cutting ceremony took place in June, 2012 and Nye was, appropriately, the first elevator rider. As the overall capital campaign ultimately exceeded its goal, the museum is now in the middle of a project to provide an ADA compliant rest room and a small warming kitchen.
“Richard Nye’s vision, leadership and personal contributions have led to a reinvigorated organization that is now poised to serve the entire Okemo Valley region and we are pleased to name the tower for such a generous person” said Alic.
Following its major elevator wing project, Black River Academy Museum (BRAM) is now in the process of constructing a modern kitchen facility and making its restroom ADA-compliant so that the entire building will now satisfy ADA access requirements. The kitchen and restroom construction is being done by Wright Construction of Mt Holly. The warming kitchen has already had cabinets installed and will see the installation of a dishwasher, refrigerator, and stove later this month.
Pictured above are, from left to right, Anita Alic, BRAM board member, and Georgia Brehm, BRAM’s director, as they view the newly-installed cabinets. The kitchen will serve the needs of the frequent events at the museum requiring a warming kitchen. Work on the restroom is also in progress and is expected to be completed soon. The addition of an ADA restroom along with the warming kitchen will help to serve the increased visitor traffic that is projected for the museum. Following the completion of these two projects, BRAM will enlarge its gift shop area. For additional information, call 228-5050 or glbrehm@tds.net.