[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong House Museum

[Robert Ringwald]

Louis Armstrong House Museum Seeks to Build Education Annex
by Clare Trapasso
New York Daily News, April 5, 2013
A Corona museum dedicated to celebrating the life of a jazz pioneer is proposing
to build a $20 million educational annex across the street.
Louis Armstrong House Museum officials asked Queens Borough President Helen Marshall
to throw her support behind granting the center a building variance at a Thursday
land-use hearing at Borough Hall.
The variance would enable the two-story center to be built closer to the property
lines than is permitted under the area's new zoning. The land for the project, as
well as the museum, are under the umbrella of Queens College.
"It will allow us to present a full array of programs and services that we can't
currently do inside the historic house because of space," said the museum's director,
Michael Cogswell.
He explained that the museum -- Armstrong's preserved home with a welcome center
in the former garage -- is simply too small to accommodate large school groups and
classes.
More than 12,500 people visited Armstrong's home in 2012, Cogswell said. Once the
center is completed in 2015, he expects that number to surge to 18,000.
"Louis is endlessly fascinating," said Cogswell, who hopes to use the second floor
of the education center for archives and office space. "He invented a way of playing
jazz that musicians today, whether they know it or not, still follow."
Visitors tend to spend money locally and dine at neighborhood restaurants, Cogswell
noted.
"This museum is a destination," he said. "People from all over the world come to
visit."
Community Board 3 District Manager Giovanna Reid said the variance was overwhelmingly
approved at the board's March 21 meeting. "We support this application," she said.
The project must ultimately be approved by the city Board of Standards and Appeals.
Caroline Harris, the attorney representing the project, said she is confident the
variance will be approved.
"The facility is being designed and constructed in a way that honors Louis Armstrong
and the contribution he made not only to the world but to the neighborhood," she
said.
Queens College President James Muyskens said the school is "tremendously excited"
about the project.
"The new center will serve public school students, college students, international
scholars, and many, many others," he said in a statement.
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-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Amateur (ham) Radio Operator K6YBV
916/ 806-9551

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