ROANOKE, Va. — A state legislator is seeking to gain status as a state agency for the Virginia Museum of Transportation, which would make the Roanoke attraction eligible for state funding.
The website Cardinal News reports the museum is already recognized as the commonwealth’s official transportation museum, but that distinction carries no legal status that would provide funding. So State Sen. John Edwards (D-Roanoke) is sponsoring a bill that would grant the transportation museum the same status as state-funded facilities such as the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Science Museum of Virginia, and the Virginia Museum of Natural History. Separately, Edwards is seeking a budget amendment to provide $2 million in annual funding, more than double the current annual budget of the museum in its current status as a privately operated, non-profit organization. The additional funding would allow the museum to hire more staff, make improvements, and add new programs.
“I think there’s a good case to be made and I’m going to make it,” Edwards told the news site.
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