The Biggs Museum will soon be growing thanks to a new building from the state of Delaware.
The state transferred ownership of the Kirk and Short Building at 15 and 21 The Green in Dover to the museum. The building had previously housed the offices of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs. The Division will move to Richardson Hall on North Street.
This kind of relationship between the state and the non-profit museum is not new. The Biggs Museum and the state have been involved in a public-private partnership as part of a 1989 trust agreement. Division of Historic and Cultural Affairs Director Tim Slavin also told Delaware Public Media that the transfer was mutually beneficial.
“The Biggs now has enough room to expand and grow and kind of achieve that next level of success that we know they’re going to have. It helps the state of Delaware in many ways because we had different maintenance on these buildings that would have come out of taxpayer dollars,” Slavin said.
The transfer will also give the museum a location along The Green, an area in old downtown Dover that includes the State House, the First State National Historical Park, and other cultural destinations.
The Biggs Museum of American Art houses a collection of American fine and decorative arts. It presents over fifteen exhibits each year and sees over 25,000 visitors annually.