MORGANTOWN – Morgantown City Councilor Joe Abu-Ghannam said he’s made keeping up with the latest offerings at the Morgantown History Museum a pretty regular part of his ventures downtown in recent years.
He also admits that prior to filling the 1st Ward council seat in 2021, he was unaware the museum existed.
That, fellow Councilor Mark Downs said, can be explained with one word – location.
In its current home, the museum is out of sight and easy to miss. Tucked away on the narrow Kirk Street, signs mark a glass door offering access to the ground floor of the 95-year-old addition to the even older U.S. Post Office building – turned Monongalia Arts Center – fronting High Street.
During a recent discussion of future rental rates to be paid by the city for the museum space, Downs said he believes the museum should be featured more prominently – either in the existing facility owned by the nonprofit Historic Morgantown Post Office Building, Inc. (HPO), or somewhere else.
“I will say that I do not believe the current location in the Historic Post Office meets the needs of the community. I don’t think that it matches what I believe to be the kind of character and prominence of a municipal museum,” he said. “So, whether we take that into consideration with the current landlord or elsewhere, I’d like to see a more prominent location. History and culture is so important to the character of our community, and we should celebrate it. The keystone of that history and culture should be, you know, in a prominent location, and I would support that.”
There’s time to consider options.
As part of its discussion, council approved a two-year lease extension through which the city will pay $45,264 annually to HPO to continue housing the museum in approximately 3,936 square feet, which works out to $11.50 per square foot.
The city’s current five-year lease, which expires Dec. 31, included a square footage rate of $10, but made the city a partner in covering utilities for the entire building. The city is anticipating the total cost of rent and utilities to be about $35,637 for 2025.
For its part, the HPO is considering a larger and more visible space for the museum going forward as part of the ongoing, multi-million dollar campaign launched in 2022 to renovate the historic building.
According to the HPO website, “The Museum requires additional exhibition and storage space for its steadily expanded collection as well as improved access to the amenities the historic building offers. By installing multiple teaser-exhibits on the first floor near entry points and improving accessibility throughout the building, the Museum will be able to reach a larger audience as well as support additional programming and events.”
In the event those renovations are completed before Dec. 31, 2027, Morgantown City Manager Jamie Miller said the city’s rent would jump to $15/square foot.
While the origin of the Morgantown History Museum dates back to 1995, it opened in its current location on West Virginia Day in 2006 under the auspices of BOPARC.
In 2020, the museum was moved under the umbrella of the new Morgantown Arts and Cultural Development Department led by newly-hired director Vincent Kitch.
“The great work that’s being done there is one of the chief reasons that I advocate for it. Part of the reason [Abu-Ghannam] didn’t know it was there is because it doesn’t have the location that’s commensurate with the work that’s being done by our folks,” Downs said.
Mayor Danielle Trumble noted the museum was recently named West Virginia’s third best – behind the Huntington Museum of Art and the Mothman Museum – as part of WVLiving.com’s Best of West Virginia 2025.
“Since Vincent Kitch brought on [Museum Manager] Jason Burns, the quality of programming at the museum has improved, and we have rotating exhibits and things now. So, I don’t disagree that long-term planning for the museum is needed,” Trumble said. “And we have two years to do that now.”
