Inside the Weis Earth Science Museum in Menasha, October 3, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Known as the official Mineralogical Museum of Wisconsin, the Weis Earth Science Museum’s future has been in flux for months following UW-Oshkosh’s decision to bring its operations at the Fox Cities campus in Menasha to a halt in June.
While details remain limited, one organization in talks about taking over the museum’s operations is the History Museum at the Castle in downtown Appleton.
“The History Museum at the Castle has had conversations with Winnebago County and Outagamie County about the future of that property, and the Weis museum in particular, and those conversations are still ongoing,” said Dustin Mack, executive director for the History Museum at the Castle.
The Weis has been housed at the current UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities campus in Menasha since it opened to the public in 2002.
It’s currently unclear if displays would transition over to the History Museum at the Castle, or if they’d stay in Menasha.
“I would expect that there’s a more formal announcement in the next few days, but that’s still being worked through,” said Mack.
Weis Earth Science Museum Interim Director Scott Schaefer has emphasized his desire for operations and displays to be kept where they are.
“We also have in our collections about 20,000 specimens, which people aren’t aware of — the public is not aware of — as part of our museum as well, and logistically, it would be very difficult to move all of that,” said Schaefer, referencing items at the Weis that in storage and aren’t currently on public display. “So, financially, logistically, it’s just kind of impractical to try to have to move the museum as a whole.”
Schaefer also worries what a potential move of the Weis could mean for its partnership with the Barlow Planetarium, its next door neighbor on the Fox Cities campus.
“If they were to sever the museum from that campus, from its relationship with the Barlow, we would also sever that relationship and the funding, so we wouldn’t do as well fiscally, either of us,” said Schaefer.
More information on the future of the Weis Earth Science Museum and Barlow Planetarium is expected sometime later this month.
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