Donations open for Mat-Su Borough historic document display that includes Ten Commandments
Borough officials are looking to raise $4,000 to cover the cost of the display.
What you need to know:
- A Mat-Su Borough government fundraiser to cover the cost of a historical document display ordered last month by the Mat-Su Assembly is now live. The display will feature eight documents, including the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights.
- Officials aim to raise $4,000. The borough is prohibited from using taxpayer funds for the project.
- The exhibit will be placed in the lobby of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Administration Building in Palmer. It will include eight large retractable pull-up banners that can be packed up and displayed at alternate locations, including schools and libraries, officials said.
PALMER – A Mat-Su Borough government fundraising campaign to cover the cost of a planned display of historical documents, including the Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights, is now live and accepting donations, borough Manager Mike Brown told the Mat-Su Assembly at a meeting Tuesday.
A resolution ordering the display was unanimously approved by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly last month. The resolution prohibits the borough from using taxpayer money to fund the project. Officials said they need to raise about $4,000. Donations can be made through the borough's payment website by selecting "Donate to Historical Documents Display" from the options.
The display is intended to "honor historical documents" that have influenced U.S. and state law, according to the resolution. It will include the Ten Commandments, a summary of the Code of Hammurabi, the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the preamble to the Alaska Constitution. An eighth document, the Bill of Rights, was added to exhibit plans during Tuesday's meeting.
The planned display will feature prints of the documents on eight large retractable banners that will be placed in the lobby of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Administration Building in Palmer or rotated to various locations throughout the region, including libraries and schools, Brown said.
“The benefit is that it wouldn’t be permanent, so it could be put in traveling cases and moved to different facilities, which might create a better setting where it doesn’t get stale,” Brown said.
Brown said each pull-up banner will display a single document or document summary and include a QR code that viewers can use to access more information. The banners will measure about 78 inches high and 30 inches wide each and will include a display light, he said.
It was not immediately clear where the signs would be placed in the lobby of the borough building. Current features in the lobby include a glass-encased, nearly 11-foot-tall taxidermied brown bear taken in 2005 by former Port MacKenzie Director Marc Van Dongen, a copy machine and a series of hand sanitizer stations.
— Contact Amy Bushatz at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.
