Springfield Museums Receive Shuttered Venue Operator Grant

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Museums will welcome U.S. Rep. Richard Neal and Small Business Administration District Office Director Robert Nelson to the Quadrangle green today, Oct. 7, at 3 p.m. to announce a $1,200,000 Shuttered Venue Operator Grant (SVOG) from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The public is welcome to attend the public announcement of this grant.

As part of the American Rescue Plan, the SVOG program provided more than $16 billion in grants to shuttered venues and was administered by SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Springfield Museums shut its doors for four months, the first time this has happened in its 164-year history.

“As a beloved community anchor and an important informal-learning hub, we were overjoyed to reopen in July 2020,” Springfield Museums President Kay Simpson said. “Our visitors make our museums alive with energy and potential, and we are so glad to have them back in our buildings. We are deeply grateful for the funds provided by the Shuttered Venue Operator Grant, which will help us make up for the lost time during that four-month period.”