{"id":115533,"date":"2026-01-08T14:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115533\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T14:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T14:22:10","slug":"cash-strapped-panhandle-plains-historical-museum-fights-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/115533\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash-strapped Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum fights closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LUBBOCK \u2014 The Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum has long stood as a landmark in the small town of Canyon. The museum, nearly as old as the city itself, is home to the largest collection of historical materials in Texas. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s now at risk of closing its doors for good, putting the future of more than 2 million historical artifacts in jeopardy. <\/p>\n

Last month, West Texas A&M University, which owns the museum building, informed the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society that the university could no longer provide long-term funding to maintain the building. <\/p>\n

University President Walter V. Wendler later said the school formally asked the society to develop a plan to relocate its vast collection, blaming decades of mounting operational costs, a decline in state funding and a laundry list of fire code violations found by the Texas State Fire Marshal. <\/p>\n

With the museum closed since March for safety reasons, Wendler requested a written plan from the society by Feb. 1 to outline how artifacts will be transferred to a new location. <\/p>\n

The news devastated the Panhandle region. Social media was quickly flooded with people recalling visits to the museum with family or as part of a school group. Others questioned whether they were told the real reasons for closing an important piece of Panhandle history. <\/p>\n

It all came to a head Tuesday at the City of Canyon Commission meeting. Residents filled the room, with many holding \u201cSave our museum\u201d signs. Some people left voluntarily so outgoing state Rep. John Smithee<\/a>, R-Amarillo, and his team could enter the room without causing a fire code violation. City officials, Wendler and Smithee spoke about how to resolve the issue between the university and the historical society. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say this marriage is over, but it has been somewhat on the rocks lately,\u201d Smithee said. \u201cWe got to get the commitment on both sides to make this happen. It breaks my heart, everybody else\u2019s hearts, to drive by there and see that sign out in front of the door.\u201d <\/p>\n

During the meeting, Canyon Mayor Gary Hinders emphasized that he wants to keep the museum in the city, and for the university and historical society to work it out together. Hinders said the museum is a major driver of tourism and revenue for the city of just over 15,000 people. <\/p>\n

While the city does not have a formal partnership with either the museum or the society, Canyon offers local tax funds to support it, primarily through advertising. The museum also received funding from the state Legislature, but Wendler said that has declined by 65% since 1984. <\/p>\n

City officials discussed a number of possible solutions Tuesday \u2014 from exploring state, federal and private funding to designating the museum as a convention or visitor center to use more local tax money, which would require a public election. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come to a dead end with the A&M system and funds there. I think there\u2019s been nothing forthcoming there,\u201d Hinders said. \u201cBut bottom line is, I think to get there, it\u2019s going to take both what we can get from some of those state funds that we can get help with, then it\u2019s also going to take private money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of which avenue the city takes, the museum is going to have a hefty price tag. Smithee estimated it could cost between $20 million and $40 million to reopen the museum where it is now, and $250 million to fund a new building. Smithee said the higher amount was a nonstarter for the Legislature, adding that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick<\/a> told him he didn\u2019t think they could justify spending that much money even if the Alamo in San Antonio was falling down. <\/p>\n

While the next legislative session won\u2019t begin until January 2027, Smithee said the committees that work on the Texas House and Senate budgets will begin meeting this summer to set the next budget. He said they needed to start early on a plan to request a one-time appropriation in the range of $20 million to $40 million. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not running again, so somebody else is going to have to get this money a year from now,\u201d Smithee reminded the commission. \u201cBut I do think I can help in laying the groundwork to get it done.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"UniversityUniversity President Walter V. Wendler prepares to help with the hooding of a graduating student during the West Texas A&M University Commencement program at the WTAMU campus in Canyon on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n

Wendler told the commission that he hasn\u2019t given up on finding a solution. However, he said the state fire marshal requested the building be vacated as it\u2019s believed to be \u201cdangerous.\u201d <\/p>\n

According to Wendler, it costs about $100,000 a month to operate the building, including modest maintenance. However, the university system does not have a funding stream because it\u2019s not considered an \u201ceducation and general building.\u201d In a 1932 lease agreement, West Texas A&M assumed responsibility for maintaining the building, which some in the audience said the university system was violating. <\/p>\n

Wendler insisted the society and the university are not divided on the issue and said everyone is equally frustrated by the complexities. He said the other two museums on Texas college campuses \u2014 the Stone Fort Museum at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches and the National Ranching Heritage Center at Texas Tech University in Lubbock \u2014 have experienced the same challenges, but they are \u201cminiscule\u201d compared with the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most robust history museum in the state of Texas,\u201d Wendler said. \u201cI think the burden of what it costs to upgrade the building and address the fire and safety concerns are remarkable and beyond most people\u2019s imagination.\u201d <\/p>\n

The commission opened the floor for audience comments and questions. Many of the speakers insisted the museum belongs in Canyon because of the history it holds from the nearby Palo Duro Canyon, and because area residents donated family artifacts that had been passed down by generations. Others feared the collection would move to Amarillo or Lubbock, saying neither city \u201cdeserved\u201d the museum. <\/p>\n

Mary Bearden, a former president for the historical society, told the commission she felt encouraged by the ideas presented at the meeting. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was worried the parties would not be able to find middle ground,\u201d Bearden said. \u201cSo I hope, based on what we hear today and what the Legislature, A&M and the society can do, that we can keep the Panhandle-Plains Museum,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy, and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1864,24853,2649,27,29,28,6748],"class_list":["post-115533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-dan-patrick","tag-john-smithee","tag-panhandle","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-well-b-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}