A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to Create the North Carolina Textile Museum and to appropriate funds for the same.
Whereas, the North Carolina Office of Archives and History was directed, pursuant to S.L. 2019‑118, to evaluate the feasibility of establishing a textile museum to preserve and interpret the State's textile heritage and industrial history; and
Whereas, the feasibility study report was submitted to the North Carolina Historical Commission on May 29, 2020, and approved unanimously at the Commission's meeting on September 3, 2020; and
Whereas, the feasibility study report was submitted to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources on July 17, 2020; and
Whereas, the Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, is the owner of real property in Franklinville and Cedar Falls on the Deep River in Randolph County, which includes two of the earliest cotton textile mills in the State; and
Whereas, Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., is also the custodian of 25,000 square feet of textile history artifacts and machinery acquired from the former American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts, now warehoused in its properties; and
Whereas, the feasibility study committee evaluated the Randolph Heritage properties and collections and found them to be "exceptional…unrivaled in its breadth and depth and described by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as a national treasure"; and
Whereas, Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., has spent more than $400,000 to preserve and transport its collections to North Carolina and to purchase sufficient space to house and interpret them to the public; and
Whereas, Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc.'s, properties are centrally located and easily accessible to the public and provide a variety of synergetic marketing opportunities in coordination with the nearby Deep River State Trail and North Carolina Zoological Park; and
Whereas, Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., is willing to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources whereby the property at Cedar Falls and the American Textile Technology collections can be transferred to the State in phases, pursuant to the implementation of business development, staffing, programming, and exhibit plans; and
Whereas, Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., acting as the museum's nonprofit support group, can coordinate administrative and operational functions, performing upgrades to the building and properties required to accommodate the public, pursuant to grants provided by the State; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is established the North Carolina Textile Museum to preserve the State's textile industrial heritage and mill village culture; to demonstrate the science, engineering, and technology involved in that industry; and to present it to a wide public audience in an interesting and entertaining way.
SECTION 2.  The recommendations of the Textile Museum Feasibility Study Committee are adopted, and the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is directed to work with Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for a textile museum and to plan for the transfer of assets and responsibilities to the State in an orderly fashion.
SECTION 3.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to Randolph Heritage Conservancy, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in nonrecurring funds for each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to implement a comprehensive plan for the North Carolina Textile Museum under the supervision of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.