BELOIT – Recent storm damage from hard wind and rain at the museum in Beloit has caused for a temporary shutdown. Rain from last week’s storm flooded a breaker box, Museum Director, Kyle Peterson said. He stated that some artifacts had to be moved as to prevent damage.The society is working with contractors to fix issues and get the museum open again as soon as possible. This is the busiest time of the years with 5 to 10 research requests coming in per week. This is also a very busy time for tourists traveling to see exhibits. We are striving to be open for the tours that will be coming out from the World Cup event in Kansas City. Many tourists from out of country want to see the Largest Ball of Twine in the World. The Museum wants to be part of the stop in the county.
“This delay comes at a bad time too”, Peterson said, “Because the Historical Society is working hard at getting moved out of the museum at 402 W. 8th St. The Mitchell County Hospital Heath Systems committee met with the Mitchell County Historical Society board in April and stated they would like to shorten the five year moving plan and have the building vacated by sometime by the end of this year. All of the move and demo of displays have been done by volunteer labor up to this point. A new plan has been drawn up and presented to the Mitchell County Commissioners in May. Funding is very tight and a cost from a moving company to come and finish the project would cost initially $5,000-$7,000 to move items such as seven large display cases, a 1860 Steinway grand piano and many pieces of 6ft x 5ft display glass that would cost as much as $50,000 to replace.
The cost of hiring carpenters to quickly finish display demos has yet to be determined. In late summer, another crew would have to come in to dismantle displays that were built into the facility, such as the War Memorial display and the American Legion Auxiliary monument. Over the last few month 18 volunteers stepped in to start a major dismantle of build ins. KJ Electric of Beloit has volunteered to remove the antique lighting that was donated in 1976 by Russell Heidrick which is going to save the society a lot.
The MCHS board realized volunteer help takes too long to meet the end of year deadline for much of project. Budget concerns are a real issue across all county supported entities. It comes down to the public. How much does saving and protecting your history matter to you? It’s important that our commissioners hear from you and please consider donating privately to help the society protect its collection of more than 150,000 artifacts that include over 2,800 county records.
Look for video updates on the Mitchell County Museum’s facebook page. Contact the museum by mail: PO Box 472, Beloit, KS 67420, email: mchistorical@yahoo.com or call: 785-738-5355.
