Advertisement Neale Horman, president of the historical society, said the museum’s location is somewhat dictated by city hall’s directives.
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An old-time Christmas is the theme of one of the Onalaska Area Historical Society’s new displays at the museum inside the Onalaska Public Library. The exhibit features antique toys and other holiday items.
Photo by Jo Anne Killeen |
The city eventually wants to have the historical society’s museum space in the Onalaska Public Library for library use, Horman said.
“They have told us we can stay until another location can be found,” Horman said. “We have no time line. But as things progress, a timeline will become obvious.”
He added that the city allows the museum to occupy library space free of charge.
“They provide the space and utilities,” Horman said. “We’re very fortunate in that. The income we receive won’t pay for much.”
Despite the fact the museum storage area was expanded, the museum needs more space than it has now.
“Our membership increased last year,” Horman said. “We are constantly getting donations, which is why we had to expand storage.”
Historical society members recently passed a resolution in favor of occupying space in the new cultural center and asking the Onalaska Common Council to include space for the historical society in planning the waterfront development.
The resolution was passed, according to Horman, because Jason Gilman, the city’s land use and development director, told the society’s board that he needed something in writing to help in getting grants.
But Horman acknowledged the historical society has begun to discuss fundraising ideas. “Possibly there will be some fundraising needed on our part to pay for some of the expenses,” Horman said. “We don’t know what kind of money we’re talking about.”
Gilman told the Waterfront Project Management Team that the National Scenic Byways grant the city received for building the Cultural Center would not pay for the city’s historical museum. Therefore, the historical society would have to come up with other funding.
“Based on my early estimates of the space they have today, including storage, we’re talking about probably $250,000 in commercial construction costs to cover that kind of space they have today,” Gilman said. “I didn’t want anybody to take it for granted that we’ve already got the funding to do that.”
Another consideration, according to Gilman, is whether the museum fits with the purpose of the cultural center. The cultural center was conceived as a way to highlight Native American history, archaeological artifacts and cultural development of the upper Mississippi region as opposed to a city-specific area.
Katewin Peterson, manager of the Onalaska branch of the La Crosse County Library System, said the library is a tenant of the building just like the museum. “They could tell us we have to leave as well,” she said.
But Peterson also thinks the museum would get more visibility if on the watefront. “Tourists don’t come to a library, especially,” Peterson said. “They would go to the waterfront as that’s more of a tourist attraction. The visitors we get are from classrooms and they get the benefit of visiting both the library and the museum at the same time.”
