Kentucky School for the Deaf teacher and grant liaison, JoAnn Hamm, said a museum collections specialist and architectural specialist will be in town the week of April 12 to conduct their assessment.

Once they are done, Hamm said, they'll develop short, mid-range and long-term preservation plans. The specialists will assess and offer guidance during an exit meeting before offering a detailed report later this year.

"In some cases, we know what we need to do and aren't sure how to go about it or the best way to spend what money we do have," Hamm said. "Our first priority is to preserve the collection and the building, and they will offer guidance on how to do that. The committee wants to continue to attract more people from outside the deaf community."

The museum holds multiple artifacts, pictures and documents detailing the history of KSD along with items such as the portraits of Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc, the founders of deaf education in America.

Those are thought to be among only three of each in the world.

The volunteer-staffed museum had 1,070 visitors last year, the most in its history, in large part because of a day for students during the Constitution Square Arts Fest.

The building was built in the 1870s. Jacobs Hall was declared a national historic landmark in 1966, and the museum was opened in 1986.

Former student and teacher Carolyn Gulley said Jacobs Hall, where middle and high school girls once lived and studied, should be preserved because of what it means to deaf education and the people that attended the school.

"It is ultimately important for us to preserve Jacobs Hall to continue savoring the deaf history and culture of which we are proud along with keeping the deaf community, Danville and other people adequately and continually aware of and informed of our deaf heritage," Gulley said.

http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/2010/mar/28/bc-ky-deaf-museum/?features&travel