Exciting News–We are Expanding!!

Earlier this year the Museum was approached by the current owner of the Christian Youth Center space (Mission Bible Church) to determine if we had any interest in purchasing the remaining part of Unit B that they own. The Museum had purchased a part of that unit in December 2017 (what we refer to as the “bump out”).

The Museum Board determined that this would be a good investment for us. The unit is directly behind the original part of the Museum, so with the purchase we would own all of the south side of the “U” of the Coleman Building. The space would allow us to expand our exhibits, create a meeting room, and provide additional storage.

We closed on the purchase Tuesday afternoon.

Our immediate next steps are to clean out the unit and do some weatherization. Then we will need to determine how to best integrate the new space with the existing space.

We had enough funds to do a cash purchase of the unit. We will need to do fund raising to pay for any renovations and modifications.

If you are looking for a non-profit to make a financial contribution to by the end of the year, please keep the Museum in mind.

We are planning on having a “cleaning party” Saturday, January 6th. We will need volunteers to sweep up the floors, organization chairs and tables that are being left in the unit, etc. More information will be coming out over the next couple of weeks.

If you are able to volunteer, please call the Museum at 815.942.4880 and give your information to our receptionist, Mary Lee.