Lacey Museum still faces staffing challenge, with upward trend on visitors

Staffing challenges continue to affect Lacey Museum operations despite it being open all year in 2022 following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Lacey Museum Curator Erin Quinn Valcho laid out the Lacey Museum report for 2022 to the city council during its joint meeting with the Historical Commission.

“There was only one person, me, doing everything,” said Valcho. “I was just kind of keeping things.”

Valcho reported that she spent half of the year running the museum without any support staff after the longest-serving volunteer retired.

She added that the museum was closed for a total of 12 days in 2022 due to staffing problems.

“On the positive side,” Valcho added. “We did have five volunteers this year who together gave 511 hours to the museum, and we also had two paid interns.”

In the same meeting, Valcho introduced Felicia Rova-Chamroeun, the city’s new museum coordinator. Rova-Chamroeun served as a museum assistant a couple of years ago, according to Valcho.

Valcho reported that the museum had 405 walk-ins, 50 people on tours, 136 people at in-person programs or events, and 587 participants in virtual programs for a total of 1,178 attendees. “This continues an upward trend in attendance since 2013,” she added.

The Historical Commission reviewed and approved 17 new acquisitions, which represent approximately 200 new items.