For the second year, the Salem Museum is a recipient of a Taubman Grant, in the final round of the special two-year program. The Museum was awarded $100,000, double the grant from last year.

“We are ecstatic with this grant,” said Salem Museum director John Long. “The Taubman money definitely makes our museum more sustainable by helping us eliminate our construction debt.”

The Taubman Sustainability Grants were initiated last year by Ambassador and Mrs. Nicholas Taubman of Roanoke. The goal was to increase the viability of arts and cultural organizations in the Roanoke region, which face increasing challenges in the current economy.

“Grants to decrease debt are extremely rare,” noted Long. “What the Taubmans have done for arts organizations in the Valley is immeasurable.” The museum’s debt is left from the 2010 project of the museum which tripled the size of the facility with a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly expansion.

“Woo-hoo!” said museum board president Willie Robertson when notified of the grant. “This is a big step in meeting our goal of eliminating our debt by the end of 2012.”

A portion of the Taubman grant for 2012 is a matching grant, said Long. The Museum will begin working immediately to raise the matching funds.

The Salem Museum, located in Longwood Park in the 1845 Williams-Brown House, is the local history museum and cultural center for Salem and the surrounding area. Admission to the museum and to most of its programs is free.

Submitted by John Long