Rumors of its demise had swirled for years. But this time, there was no denying it: The Delmarva Discovery Museum really was closing.
With barely enough money left in its bank account to settle a few bills, the Maryland nonprofit announced in a March 17 social media post that it intended to permanently close three days later. At the end of that last day, the four remaining staff members locked the door behind them, wiped away a few tears and went home.
“We’re more of a family than a staff, you know?” said Christy Gordon, the museum’s executive director. “We didn’t realize how close we were until we shut this door and realized we may never do this again.”
In the days that followed, though, donations came pouring in from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and beyond. Soon, the museum had raised $100,000, prompting another announcement: It would reopen on May 30.
Gordon and others associated with the long-struggling institution were deeply grateful for the community’s support. The influx of funding will help the museum stay open at least through the upcoming summer tourism season. What happens after that will depend on whether it can find ways to translate its new lease on life into a sustainable operating model, they say.
For her part, Gordon is feeling the pressure to prove that the museum can last.
“This is it, right?” she said one morning in April during a short break from the facility’s refurbishments and upgrades. “This is the last push. You got to do this right. We’re only going to get one shot at this. And that’s a heavy load.”
The museum itself carries a lot of weight, observers say. After it opened in 2009, it quickly became a haven for school field trips for students from across Delmarva, a place where children could connect with the region’s rich cultural history and natural treasures.
“There’s a lot of stuff here that the kids may never see,” Gordon said. “We’re bringing it to them, and we’re trying to teach them. We want them to respect their beaches and their environment.”
The Delmarva Discovery Museum has also served as the anchor for downtown Pocomoke City. It was woven into the civic fabric. The town leased a 16,000-square-foot historic structure on the banks of the Pocomoke River to the museum’s board for $1 a year. It took $3.5 million to renovate the brick building, an art deco-style former car dealership, into a museum and offices for the nonprofit.
“It makes a tremendous difference downtown because it gives people a reason to come here in the summertime,” said Lisa Taylor, head of the Pocomoke Area Chamber of Commerce and owner of Christmas Sweet, a holiday-themed bakery in town.
Publicly available tax records show that the museum has always operated in the red. But it has soldiered on. The permanent exhibits were a strong draw: a replica steamboat, a display featuring authentic waterfowl decoys and a full-size, working pair of oyster hand tongs that visitors could try for themselves (and quickly realize how much work it takes).
The museum has faced an eternal question: how to attract locals for repeat visits? Adding a saltwater touch tank with horseshoe crabs, starfish and other critters helped sustain visitors’ interest. And an even bigger boost came in 2016 when the museum installed an indoor exhibit featuring a pair of frisky male river otters, named Mac and Tuck.
But times have been tougher since Covid. The annual visitor count dropped from 20,000 to 15,000 and hasn’t recovered. Because the museum’s board and staff were loath to raise admission prices — $10 for adults, $5 for children — operating revenues fell. Then, the museum took another financial hit as state and federal grants dried up because of budget cuts.
“Funding is critical to any nonprofit,” said Erica Joseph, president of the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, the museum’s longtime fundraising partner. “Just like any other business, those costs have to be met, especially with as something as complex as a museum.”
Staff tried to trim costs, including transforming the maintenance-intensive saltwater touch tank into a sandy play area. As times got leaner, Gordon let word pass among the employees that if they should get another job offer, they should take it. Soon, there only four left from the original eight or nine.
With fewer hands to do the work, it only got harder to maintain the museum building and maintain the exhibits. And expanding or enhancing any of the exhibits or amenities was unthinkable, Gordon said. She’s pretty sure that visitors could notice that the museum wasn’t keeping up with the times.
“We’re in a new generation,” she said. “Kids don’t want to come in and read signs, and it has to all be on a computer and hands-on, and it costs a lot of money to do that. Even just a little change could [cost] $100,000.”
But if the splash of fundraising cash is any indication, the community isn’t ready to let go of the museum. And neither is Gordon. A retired school administrative assistant and teacher, she started with the organization in 2017 as the assistant to the director and quickly rose in the ranks.
On April 2, the museum announced that it had raised its fundraising goal from $100,000 to $200,000, shifting from mere “survival” to “sustainability and enhancement.”
“We’re trying to find how many things we can change almost for free,” Gordon said, noting that a tank they have in storage will be converted into an exhibit for its resident snapping turtle, which has outgrown its longtime home. Other plans include hosting a regular speaker series, updating the color scheme, repairing building leaks, repurposing old exhibits, rehiring staff and bringing in temporary exhibits from other institutions.
For more information about the Delmarva Discovery Museum, visit delmarvadiscoverycenter.org.