Funding closes the budget shortfall to complete interior build-out of the Richard Foster Building
NOME—The Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC) Board of Directors has awarded $1.5 million to the City of Nome which will be applied toward Kawerak’s Beringia Center of Culture and Science. The funding was approved at NSEDC’s second quarter board meetings August 12 in Nome and ensures the Beringia Center is included in the City of Nome’s Richard Foster Building which is slated to be complete by 2016. NSEDC’s support gives the ability to award the final construction contract to complete the building, and brings the project closer to the grand opening.
“We are thrilled the NSEDC Board of Directors chose to support this building and the partnership between the City of Nome and Kawerak,” Kawerak President Melanie Bahnke said. “Thanks to NSEDC’s substantial support for the project, we will now have a space to protect our cultural collections, build educational programs, and celebrate and perpetuate the rich historical and living cultures of the region. I also acknowledge the Kawerak Board of Directors and our region’s Elders for their directive to ensure that our cultures are thriving. NSEDC’s most generous contribution assists tremendously in turning this vision into a reality.”
The Richard Foster Building is a City of Nome construction project, and through a public-private partnership, the facility will house the City of Nome’s Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum, the Kegoayah Kozga Library and leasable space for Kawerak’s Beringia Center. The $19-million, 18,500-square-foot building will become an important resource for residents throughout the region, NSEDC Board Chairman Dan Harrelson said. “Our mission at NSEDC is to provide economic development, and we’re happy this funding will be used to create jobs during the construction phase and beyond, with the implementation of cultural programs at the Beringia Center. While regionally significant, the Richard Foster Building is a project that shows the strength in partnership and working together.”
The funding provided by NSEDC to the City of Nome will be used to award the general construction contract to complete the interior of the Richard Foster Building.
