More than 18,000 campers from all over North America visit the ranch each year. The museum, which is open year-round, provides an important historical perspective of the Southwest and houses a valuable collection of artifacts.
The Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, NM, ran out of space in its museum for storing its collection of Native American and Southwestern artifacts. It also needed more space for storing the museum store's merchandise inventory.
Storage space in the museum was at a premium, as the collection of artifacts is always growing. Additionally, over the last ten years the ranch expanded its retail space in the museum shop. With the growth in number of retail items sold, the shop ran out of space to store its inventory and needed to utilize storage in the archive area.
The museum installed a mechanical assist mobile system, quadrupled its storage space and allowed for more work areas. The number one concern for the museum was preservation of artifacts. The compact system with open four-post shelving allows room to lay art objects flat, as well as store bulky items, which augments the longevity of the artifacts. Specialty cabinets, also mounted on the mobile system, allow such items as costumes and clothing to be hung and kept dust-free. Drawers house small items such as beads and arrowheads, and rolled textiles are conveniently hung on racks.
Although many of the stored items are heavy, the mobile system's design allows for ease of carriage movement when opening the aisles. Also, smooth carriage movement protects the items on the shelves from falling off or shifting. The system incorporates a carriage lock so that when it is not in use, carriages can be rolled together and locked, keeping items secure.
When the museum was built in the 1960s, it housed conventional wood shelving. The museum curators had concerns about both potential shortage of space and the effects of off-gassing on the artifacts. The mobile system not only provides the space savings, but the metal shelving elminates off-gassing and, when the carriages are rolled together, the exposure of light and dust to the collection is virtually nonexistent.
"For a small museum the cost of a mobile system seemed high, but the alternative cost to expand the building was totally out of our budget," concluded Zimmer. "The mobile system solved our storage needs now and into the future and made additional space for work areas."
"For a small museum the cost of a mobile system seemed high, but the alternative cost to expand the building was totally out of our budget." – Steve Zimmer, Museum Director