HMH Bearing Witness - December 2017

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its funding goal for the facility groundbreaking. The museum has raised $36.5 million to date, 74 percent of its $49.4 million capital and endowment campaign goal. The campaign has received 110 gifts in total, including major gifts from Laurie and Dr. Milton Boniuk, Rhona and Bruce Caress, The Stanford and Joan Alexander Foundation, The Herzstein Foundation and The Jerold B. Katz Foundation. “We deeply appreciate that HMH is a place of learning from the past while looking to the future,” said Sue Smith. “We share the museum’s mission to leave a mark of remembrance, in the hope of peace, tolerance and understanding to all who enter its doors.” The expanded museum will be the most technologically advanced than it has ever been before, with interactive exhibits like the Rhona and Bruce Caress Anne Frank and Young Writers’ Voices, where students will be able to access and

utilize electronic diaries, and the Human Rights Gallery, where visitors are challenged to engage with one another to understand the choices that a single person can make to turn the tide and combat hatred. “HMH has the responsibility of educating people about the Holocaust and honoring the survivors,” said Gary Markowitz, chairman of the museum. “With this expansion, our work to bridge the gap between remembering the lives lost in the Holocaust and conveying the relevance and history of the Holocaust to youth and adults in our diverse community will endure for generations to come.” Construction required HMH to temporarily relocate most of its permanent exhibit, classrooms and administrative offices to 9220 Kirby Drive, Suite 100. The museum’s temporary location officially opened Friday, October 20, giving visitors a place to come, think, remember and care while the museum is under construction.

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Holocaust Museum Houston Breaks Ground on $33.8 Million Expansion

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nder sunny skies and cool temperatures, Holocaust Museum Houston (HMH) held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, October 18 with dignitaries, supporters

This past June, HMH revealed designs for a dramatic $49.4 million expansion and endowment campaign to add approximately 35,000 square feet of additional space, more than doubling the building’s current size, to a total of 57,000 square feet, to make HMH the fourth-largest Holocaust museum in the country. Two-thirds of the current building will be razed to make way for a three- story structure. The LEED certified expansion, designed by Mucasey & Associates, will house new interactive exhibits, designed by Ralph Applebaum & Associates, classrooms, auditorium, library and administrative offices. Program Manager is Mark Christensen of Christensen Building Group, LLC, the general contractor is McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and PGAL is the architect of record. Construction is scheduled to begin in November and be completed in spring 2019. "Because the museum is a leader in educating our youth, the expansion will give us the opportunity to serve substantially more students each year," said Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga. "We believe the expanded exhibits, complete with bilingual English/Spanish signage, will increase student field trip attendance by 50 percent in the first year alone, and are projecting that our overall attendance will grow by nearly 35 percent.” After a surprise $1 million donation to HMH’s capital campaign at the May 2017 Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award Dinner, Lester and Sue Smith donated an additional $14 million matching grant to the museum's $49.4 capital campaign, which includes an $11.7 million endowment, ensuring that the museum would meet

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and Holocaust survivors as part of the $49.4 million expansion and endowment of its Houston Museum District campus located at 5401 Caroline St. Emceed by the museum’s CEO Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, guest speakers included Congressman Al Green, 9th District of Texas, founding Board Chair Martin Fein and current Board Chair Gary Markowitz, Holocaust Survivor Ruth Steinfeld and principal donors Lester and Sue Smith, who contributed a $15 million matching grant to the campaign, the largest donation in the museum’s history. The new building will be named Holocaust Museum Houston, Lester and Sue Smith Campus. “As long-time supporters of HMH, we believe strongly in the institution’s mission to educate visitors about the dangers of apathy, prejudice and inaction,” said Lester Smith. “We are very proud to have our family’s name

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This page: 1: Ralph Applebaum, Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, Gary Markowitz, Donna Valone, Martin Fein 2: Shelly and Brian Hendry 3: Limor Smith, Leisa Holland- Nelson 4: Marvin and Joan Kaplan 5: Edith Mincberg, Jennifer Stockel, Nancy Brand 6: Benjamin Warren, Rosine Chappell, groundbreaking guests 7: Lester Smith at podium 8: Shirley and Bill Morgan 9: Lester and Sue Smith 10: Hon. Fred Zeidman, Mark Mucasey, Congressman Al Green, Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, Judy Mucasey

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forever associated with the Museum and look forward to the opening of the Lester and Sue Smith Campus and all the lives that will be impacted by the experience.”

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Opposite page: 1: Limor Smith, Brian and Shelly Hendry, Michael Hajtman, Evan H. Katz, Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga, Shirley and Bill Morgan, Lester and Sue Smith, Gary Markowitz, Heidi Gerger, Benjamin Warren, Laurie Boniuk, Dr. Kelli Cohen and Martin Fein 2: Kyle Rhodes, Jarad Hale, Andrew Rupp, Adam Laura, John Engle 3: Survivors recognized during groundbreaking ceremony 4: Dr. Kelly J. Zúñiga and Chaja Verveer

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4 | HOLOCAUST MUSEUM HOUSTON

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