Within a month or so, some longstanding features at the Clark County Historical Museum will be history.
The downtown museum will take a summer break for remodeling. The closure will start in late July or August and is expected to last about two months, Executive Director Katie Anderson said Thursday.
The landmark at 1511 Main St. was built in 1909 as a Carnegie Library, paid for with a $10,000 grant from 19th-century industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
It became the county museum in 1964 after a new library was built. Remodeling plans reflect some of the challenges of keeping a 107-year-old building up to date, but the project also offers a chance to restore some original features.
Not all of the work will be done at once, Anderson said. There will be three phases over the course of about two years, depending on funding.
The first phase will focus on an interior makeover. Workers will remove floor tile that was installed more than 60 years ago on both levels. That will get asbestos tile out of the building.
Anderson said she hopes it also will provide a chance to restore the main level’s original wood flooring, but they won’t know whether wooden flooring was installed over the entire main level until the tile is removed.
Gallery makeover
Main-floor display cases will be removed to make way for the flooring project, so museum staff will use that as an opportunity to change their exhibits. A display of Indian basketry will be taken down.
“It’s been on display for 12 years. It will go to storage,” Anderson said. She then added, “People will see it again one day.”
By making over the galleries, the museum will be able to display bigger artifacts.
“We can only put small things in these cases,” Anderson said. “We have Ulysses Grant’s bed in storage,” with no place to display it.
The renovation will include painting the interior and removing wallpaper in the lobby to make way for a mural project.
The city of Vancouver owns the museum building and will pay for the renovation. City officials don’t have a price tag yet.
“It hasn’t gone to bid yet,” said Jan Bader, program and policy development manager for the city. It should cost well under $100,000, Bader said.
The remodel’s second phase will include installing air conditioning. In the third phase, the front steps will be replaced.
Previous projects over the last decade included installing an elevator, adding restrooms that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and remodeling one space into a community room.
