Commissioners added $2 million so the Museum of Life and Science can build its restaurant, the last piece of its bond projects, after inflation and tariffs left a $3.5 million gap.
Durham County commissioners have added $2 million to help the Museum of Life and Science finish the projects voters approved in a 2022 bond. The museum said rising construction costs and tariffs left it about $3.5 million short.
Commissioners approved the money on their consent agenda Monday, Oct. 12. Three of the five members were present; Commissioners Nida Allam and Stephen Valentine had excused absences, according to the county’s meeting highlights.
The money comes from the county’s pay-as-you-go capital funds. It raises the budget for the museum’s program and event project from $5.85 million to $7.85 million, according to the meeting agenda.
Where the bond projects stand
Durham County voters approved $13.9 million for the museum in 2022. With $1 million from the state and private gifts, the public money is part of an $18.5 million campus overhaul, the museum’s request said.
Finished so far, according to the request:
- the Butterfly House Pavilion
- a renovated Mercury Meeting Room
- a renovated Biotech Lab and TinkerLab
- the From Here On sustainability exhibit, with the Solutions coffee bar and a patio
Through June 2026, the museum had spent about $8.38 million of the public money available. The last piece is a restaurant. The museum said it scaled the restaurant back but still faced a gap of about $3.5 million.
The county’s $2 million gives the museum enough certainty to sign construction contracts for the restaurant, the request said. The museum expects the restaurant to bring in more earned revenue and keep visitors on campus longer.
Closing the rest of the gap
The museum has raised nearly $1 million through its Building Bonds Campaign, the request said. It plans to spend about $100,000 on a professional fundraising firm. That campaign would run 16 to 18 months, with a goal of another $1 million.
In its most recent fiscal year, the museum said, it had more than 628,000 visitors. It gave free admission to more than 118,000 of them through its access programs.
What else commissioners approved
The same consent agenda included:
- $1 million in opioid settlement money to buy a seven-bedroom house on Holloway Street for the county’s Justice Services Department transition house. The appraised value is $770,000. The county said renovating the current transition house would cost too much.
- 15.354 acres at 4370 Garrett Road, to be protected as permanent open space at a total cost of $272,750. A $173,000 grant from the North Carolina Land and Water Fund covers most of it. The land holds a shellbark hickory, a tree the state lists as critically imperiled.
- $525,668.56 more for Wellpath, the contractor that provides medical care at the Durham County Detention Center and the county Youth Home.
- A bond order of up to $30 million for a revenue bond anticipation note for the county’s enterprise system.
The board’s next regular session is Monday, Oct. 26, in the commissioners’ chambers at 200 E. Main St.
What it means for you
- Visiting the museum: the county’s papers give no opening date for the restaurant.
- Paying for it: the $2 million is pay-as-you-go capital money, the agenda says, not bond money. For what you pay the county each year, see our Durham property taxes guide.
- Watching the board: meetings air live on Durham Television Network and the county’s YouTube channel. Agendas are on the county’s agenda and video library.
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