Ever since the basement of the Cook County Historical Museum experienced flooding in 2017 and 2018, the Cook County Historical Society (CCHS) board of directors has been looking for a new place to store treasured local artifacts.
Along the way, items once kept in the basement are now temporarily housed in a variety of spaces, including former exhibits stored at the History Museum, an overcrowded Johnson Heritage Post storage area, the shop at the Bally property, and three shipping containers. For their preservation, Executive Director Carrie Johnson said, “it is imperative to get these artifacts into a building with enough space and museum-quality environmental conditions as soon as possible!”
An essential step towards making a new home for those artifacts was taken last month when the CCHS board of directors and the Cook County/ Grand Marais EDA agreed on a price of $20,000 plus closing costs to purchase a lot in the Cedar Grove business park.
While erecting a building in the business park could be two years away due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson said that time will be used to raise funds to build a 3,500 square foot humidity and temperature- controlled facility.
Johnson said that thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society Legacy Fund, CCHS had a collections assessment conducted in 2019. It determined that storage of over 28,000 individual items would be best kept in a 3,500 square foot off-site facility.
As Johnson noted, “While we manage several properties, none of them has enough space nor the ability to create proper environmental conditions for humidity and temperature controlled storage.
“This collection, like our county, is one of a kind! The cultural legacy held in these objects cannot be emphasized enough. This organization began collecting in the 1920s, and it is our responsibility to ensure that decades of work are honored while documenting and sharing our region’s changing stories.
HELP US as we work to keep Cook County’s history for future generations!”
So far, the CCHS board has committed $64,400 out of its’ endowment fund toward building this new facility.
“This was a big decision but necessary to ensure the start of this urgent project,” Johnson said. “We are looking to our members first as our primary supporters. A rough estimate of the construction project is $250,000 to create a simple but sufficient structure. In addition, we will need to raise funds for storage furniture, supplies, and the staffing hours required to move and account for the safe relocation of each artifact.”
In the near future, the Cook County Historical Society will conduct a significant fundraising campaign. Johnson asks members to consider donating a matching fund to be leveraged “in our upcoming campaign.”
The CCHS board is in charge of the Cook County Historical Museum, Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Bally Blacksmith Shop, St. Francis Xavier Church, and the fish house and Tug called The Neegee.
Johnson asks the public to support the CCHS if “you share our recently identified values: Tradition. Stories. Education. Stewardship. Community; and Respecting the Past.”
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