It’s time to say goodbye to the Burke Museum. At year’s end the museum’s current
location will close its doors for good. Thankfully, there’s a worthy replacement. The Burke founded in 1885 by high school students. In fact, it’s older than Washington State. The
museum’s large collection has been housed in its current building since 1962. After 56 years, this
is changing.
The idea of giving the Burke a new home isn’t new either. Public relations manager for
the Burke, Andrea Godinez, says, “Since the early 1990s, the Burke has tried to solve its serious
building issues, exploring remodeling and expanding the current facility. However, it has
become clear these options are either infeasible or the expense is disproportionate to the impact.”
The solution is a new building. “We are out of space and don't have room in the current
building to continue growing the collections,” says Godinez. “In addition, our visitors have no
idea we have all of these objects and the different ways they are important in understanding
critical topics like climate change, cultural heritage, conservation and more.”
The Burke’s main goal and focus is education. The soon to open building is 66 percent
larger than the original, providing more space for students and researchers. With this they hope
to double the number of K-12 students they reach each year.
Staff are also excited about increasing access to the museum’s archives and labs. “Nearly
60% of the museum will be accessible or visible to visitors compared to just over 30% today.
We'll have flexible, dynamic exhibits that we can update more frequently than our current
exhibits, with 6 galleries in the new building (we currently have 3),” says Godinez. She adds,
“We feel it is imperative as the state museum which holds these 16 million objects in trust for the
public to break down these barriers and make them a part of the experience for every visitor to
the Burke.”
Many who knew the museum well are sentimental about the change. “I’ve grown up
going to the Burke,” says sophomore Daniel Khastou. “It will definitely be sad to see the
building it’s been in for so long be demolished, but from what I’ve seen the new museum looks
totally awesome. I guess building a new one needed to happen, so I won’t complain.”
As for the current building, it’s set to be demolished to make room for a courtyard and
parking lot. In celebration of its closure, the museum will be free to visit during its last week of
operations (12/26-12/30).
