- By Karen Veaner
- Around Town
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Tompkins County Legislature Chair Martha Robertson, History Center in Tompkins County Executive Director Rod Howe, NYS Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton officially opened the Tompkins County Center for History & Culture FridayThe Tompkins County Center for History & Culture officially opened Friday in its new home on the Ithaca Commons. The opening attracted hundreds of people who gathered in front of the new location for a concert by the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers and more than 20 speakers before a ribbon cutting, after which the crowd swarmed into the new museum. The exhibit center is open Sundays noon to 4pm; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 11am to 5pm; and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm.
The former Tompkins Trust Company building has been transformed into a beautiful space, making use of two vaults for exhibits, and with the Thomas Morse S4 Scout ('Tommy'), built in Ithaca a century ago, restored and flown last October. In addition to the History and Culture Center, the building houses offices for the Discovery Trail, the Dorothy Cotton Institute, Latino Civic Association, the History Center in Tompkins County, the Susan Christopherson Community Planning Center, the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County, Discover Cayuga Lake, Ithaca Festival, Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, and the Wharton Studio Museum.
Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers
Bear Clan Chief Sachem Sam George, Cayuga Nation, Haudenosaunee Confederacy
History Center in Tompkins County Executive Director Rod Howe
Legislature Chairwoman Martha Robertson
This Thomas Morse S4 Scout ('Tommy') was originally built in Ithaca a century ago, and after a decade of restoration more than 2,500 people came to see Tommy fly again at the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport last October. It is now the centerpiece of the Tompkins County Center for History & Culture, its permanent home.
Ken Cassens, who piloted Tommy's historic flight last October, meeting some history buffs
The old Tompkins Trust Company vault door has been turned into a history wall
A Tompkins County history timeline is inside the old bank vault
Lynn Leopold (left) and Astrid Jirka promoting the Floating Classroom, now Discover Cayuga Lake
The history of Ithaca's silent picture industry will find a home at the planned Wharton Studio Museum, which is planning to turn what remains of the Wharton Studio building in Stewart Park into a museum. The building is one of the few silent film studios still standing in the United States. The museum is one of a number of community organizations with new offices in the Tompkins County Center for History & Culture.
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