FROM THE DIRECTOR

Calvert Marine Museum stands on the threshold of its Coming of Age. In forty years, we have grown from a modest community-based operation created to preserve and celebrate Solomons' history to a premiere educational facility serving a regional and national audience.  Since its founding in 1970, nearly two million visitors have passed through the doors; in the next ten years we anticipate one million more. 

With the strong support of the Calvert County Government as our foundation, we are now ready to embrace the future by taking the first step in our new Master Plan: to renovate and expand the Exhibition Building. By maximizing use of our existing facility, we will be able to triple useable space available for educational programming and provide far greater flexibility in our ability to respond to community needs. We are not building in the hopes of attracting new audiences; rather we are responding to a clear and growing demand for the museum's offerings.

This $2 million project requires a combination of private and public funding. The CMM Coming of Age Campaign has a goal of raising $750,000 in private funding to leverage $1.5 million in public monies. We invite you to join us in making the museum's vision a reality.

Sincerely,
Don McDougall, Chair
Board of Directors
Calvert Marine Museum Society, Inc.

CMM TODAY

The museum was founded in 1970 by volunteers eager to preserve the local maritime heritage they saw fast disappearing. Today, the museum has 2,700 members and an annual visitation of approximately 70,000 people from across the United States and dozens of foreign countries. Calvert Marine Museum has achieved accreditation three times and is one of only thirteen accredited museums in Maryland. This "seal of approval" demonstrates CMM's "commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement."

Educational Programs:
Our educational programs are the lifeblood of the museum and our fastest growing area. We served over 20,000 children and families in FY 2010 through school fieldtrips, distance learning, summer camps, Girl Scout programs, overnights, and other extracurricular programs. We provide adult educational programming through our fossil field outings, lecture series, Road Scholar programs, Sunday Conversations, and public programs. We have welcomed over 18,000 citizens in the past three years to our First Free Fridays.

Exhibits & Collections:
Located near the confluence of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay, Calvert Marine Museum is ideally situated for the interpretation of its three major themes: the maritime history of Southern Maryland; the paleontology of Calvert Cliffs; and the estuarine life of the tidal Patuxent River and adjacent Chesapeake Bay.  The fusion of these three perspectives creates a vibrant story of the Chesapeake Bay region. In addition to our maritime exhibits collections, the museum owns and operates the Cove Point Lighthouse, as well as three National Historic Landmarks: the Wm. B. Tennison; the J. C. Lore Oyster House; and the Drum Point Lighthouse. With over 40,000 Miocene fossils, CMM has the largest collection of marine fossils from the Miocene epoch outside of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Our thirteen-tank "Estuarium" explores the ecology of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay, helping visitors appreciate and respect the amazing complexity and interconnections of life found here.

OUR PROJECT

The Learning Center:
Fueled by its reputation for excellence and the overwhelming demand from our audience, the museum's educational programs have experienced remarkable growth, outstripping our ability to meet the demand.
The project will expand the mezzanine level to create three modern classrooms, one of which will also serve as the distance learning studio. The new Learning Center will allow us to meet the ever-increasing need for onsite educational programming and outreach through distance learning. The ability to offer immersive environmental education, summer science centers, internships for students, and teacher professional development all become a reality with the addition of this new Learning Center.

The Gallery:
Situated off the lobby, the auditorium will be transformed into a dynamic program and event space that will accommodate current uses as well as provide much needed flexibility. The new gallery space will continue to be used as a lecture hall and performance space, but will also be a gathering place for large school groups, a community space that can be subdivided for meetings or workshops, a banquet hall, or temporary exhibit space.

The project also redefines the lobby, creating a small orientation theatre behind the admission desk, expanding the Museum Store, and creating an overall introduction to what the museum has to offer. Retractable walls will allow us to open The Gallery into the lobby area for special events.

Project Funding:
CMM Coming of Age Campaign will build on our strengths in public/private partnerships.  The project is estimated to cost $2 million. Funding for this project will come from public sources through county and state funding, and private donations. Private philanthropy is critical in order to demonstrate to lawmakers that there is tangible public support for this project. Our goal is to raise at least $750,000 in private donations.

Project Schedule:
Construction documents are complete and permits have been applied for. In order to keep the project within budget, we will be rebidding with the goal of awarding the contract in the spring.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

With the help of gifts from supporters such as you, The Coming of Age Campaign will raise a minimum of $500,000 in private funding toward the $2 million cost of the planned renovation and expansion in the Exhibition Building. Work has already begun.

Over $650,000 has already been contributed by the museum's Board of Directors and its senior staff. With such strong support, the board has scheduled the campaign to be completed by June 30, 2012. All gifts and pledges received prior to June 30, will count toward the $750,000 goal. Multi-year pledges can be stretched until June 30, 2014.

If you would like to join our growing list of supporters, please use the enter your amount in the box below and fill out the online form to make a donation. Or, you may mail your donation to: CMMS, P.O. Box 97, Solmons, MD 20688. If you would like more information or would like to discuss a multi-year pledge, please call or email:

Vanessa Gill
Director of Development
gillvl@co.cal.md.us
410-326-2042, ext. 18