The commission may, without regard to the laws and procedures applicable to state agencies, sue and be sued, adopt and use a corporate seal, charge admission fees, and prescribe rules and regulations with respect to its facilities, purposes, and affairs, and employ personnel, acquire property, receive grants, conduct activities to promote tourism, procure supplies, services, and property and make contracts and expend in furtherance of this article funds donated or funds received and may, within the limits of statutory authority, exercise those powers that are necessary to enable it to carry out efficiently and in the public interest the purposes of this article. The commission shall have the authority to procure and purchase books, documents, transcripts of documents, or other historical materials, paintings, works of art, or any artistic objects of historic interest; to collect and preserve objects of interest pertaining to natural history of Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties or the State of South Carolina and other like property; to arrange and catalogue them; to provide for their restoration when necessary; to provide for public display, examination, and use in the furtherance of the cultural life of Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties and the State; to purchase or lease property or buildings necessary to establish and conduct a museum of history and natural science; to mortgage or pledge its real or personal property, and to receive funds, grants, donations, and appropriations for the purpose of establishing and operating a museum of history and natural science. The commission shall have full authority to operate, maintain, and expand the collection or museum so far as its funds allow. The commission may enter into agreements, leases, working arrangements with other museums, art centers, or eleemosynary corporations or with state or federal departments or agencies in the acquisition of historic sites or historic objects or in the purchase, development, and operation of historic properties, pageants, or dramas for the cultural and economic development of the three-county area.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 9-752; 1966 (54) 2073; 1992 Act No. 358, Section 2, eff May 6, 1992.
Editor's Note
2012 Act No. 123, Section 1 amended 1966 Act No. 794, Section 4 to read as follows:
"Effective March 1, 2012, the name of the Pendleton District Agricultural Museum established and operated by the Pendleton District Historical and Recreational Commission, pursuant to Section 2 of this act, must be the 'Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina'. The commission shall erect appropriate markers and signs reflecting the name of the agricultural museum as the 'Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina'."
Effect of Amendment
The 1992 amendment provided for additional powers of the Commission.