LE MARS, Iowa -- Historic preservation at Old Central High School, which houses the Plymouth County Historical Museum, took a giant step into the future in February with contracts signed for $226,967 in renovations and an elevator.
"This project is the largest step ever taken in the 38-year history of the museum which has been located in Old Central since 1983," said Judy Bowman, museum administrator.
Renovation includes the first work in the historic 1905 section in four former classrooms on the second and third floors.
A Religious Heritage Room will feature a restored "The Morning of the Crucifixion" oil painting by Astley David Middleton Cooper dated 1892 that was a gift to Westmar College. The 11-by-13-foot canvas is owned by the city of Le Mars, with E.W. (Al) and Delores Maser of Le Mars providing the cost of restoration.
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Three other 1905 rooms will be used as a Westmar Room for memorabilia collected after the 100-year-old college closed in 1997, Archives Room and Community Room.
"The Community Room will provide space for all communities in Plymouth County to have exhibit space," Bowman said. "We have been trying to emphasize that the museum's mission is to preserve the heritage of the entire county. The Community Room will serve the whole county in a very direct way."
Plans by InVision Architecture of Sioux City include renovation of two rooms and a hallway on the 1925 section fourth floor for a registrar's office and processing area.
A five-stop elevator for access from basement to four floors for elderly, handicapped and exhibit freight will be located just inside the main entrance in the 1925 section.
Dr. Wayne Marty, renovation project manager, said, "We owe it to the people to get some of these things done." He is former museum board president.
"This major renovation project will enable the museum to be an even better community servant," Marty said.
Climate control for the six renovated rooms will be made possible by a $17,560 grant through the Historical Resources Development Program awarded in 2001 along with $4,000 which is a portion of a $20,000 window restoration grant.
Window restoration in the 1925 and 1905 sections on the east front and west fourth floor study hall was completed during a mild spell of weather in January. Window painting is scheduled for warm weather.
Orange, gold and tan boards were installed to cover windows by the Le Mars Community School District in the 1980s for energy conservation. Volunteers have removed the boards and replaced them with 68 original windows found in storage and 38 new replicas created by Adams Architectural of Eldridge, Iowa.
Le Mars Central High School was closed by the school board at the close of the 1980 academic year. Only the 1952 section was in use for grade school activities. The senior high had moved into a new building in 1965 and the junior high was moved in a new building in 1972. Various civic groups used the 1952 grade school annex for a time until that section also was closed.
Building reuse began in 1981 when Roger Sitzmann of Le Mars converted the auditorium/gymnasium into a racquetball and exercise club. The Plymouth County Historical Museum bought the south wing of the 1925 section in 1983 from the City of Le Mars which had owned the property for a brief period.
The city sold the 1905 and 1952 sections to Ronald Wiltgen of Le Mars. Those sections became uninhabitable because of roof and drainage system leakage.
The entire Old Central complex came into the hands of the Plymouth County Historical Museum with a gift of the 1905 and 1952 sections from a local woman who bought the property for $1 from Wiltgen in 1995, and the gym/auditorium was purchased by the museum in 1999 from Sitzmann.
The Plymouth County Historical Museum has re-roofed the entire Old Central School, repaired the drainage system, tuck pointed and restored the gym/auditorium to its original use.
Funding for this latest and largest project includes two city of Le Mars tax grants: $40,000 in Le Mars local option sales tax money in 2002 and $17,500 from the Le Mars hotel-motel tax in 2002 and 2003.
Grant money totals $79,060, with approximately $84,000 to be raised by the museum through fund-raising calls in weeks to come. Museum volunteers will help with some of the finish work to hold down costs.
Marty has commented the grant support from the State Historical Society of Iowa program complements the support the museum receives from throughout Plymouth County.
"The museum has been carrying on a fund-raising campaign, 'The Times of Our Lives,' since the fall of 1999," Marty explained. "This (fund raising) will continue."
Sue Moller, museum board president, said, "I believe the museum board's decision to move forward with this major project, even in the face of current national and international conflicts and uncertainties, is a true sign of their commitment to the future of the Plymouth County Historical Museum and its central goal of preserving the county's past for future generations."
Moller said the additional space for display and proper preservation of artifacts is vital to the museum's future.
"Becoming accessible to all persons (with an elevator) is a fulfillment of our civic duties to the public who so generously support us," she said.
Bids were opened Jan. 17 with the $226,967 contract awarded Feb. 12 to Liberty Contractors of Sergeant Bluff. Work began the last week in February with an estimated 120 days for completion.
