Betty Hemstad (right), past president and museum chair for the Gunflint Trail Historical Society, accepts an award from Bonnie McDonald, director of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota. The award recognizes the hundreds of volunteers who worked to develop the former Chik-Wauk Lodge to the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center
Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center was one of 16 projects to receive recognition at the 2010 Minnesota Preservation Award ceremony on Sept. 16 in Winona, at the new Laird Norton addition to the Winona County Historical Society.
Betty Hemstad, past president and museum chairperson for the Gunflint Trail Historical Society, accepted the award on behalf of the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and U.S. Forest Service. Bonnie McDonald, director of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, presented the award, which recognizes the hundreds of volunteers who labored to restore and convert the former Chik-Wauk Lodge into the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center.
Since 1985, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota has awarded nearly 300 preservation awards to various historic preservation projects around the state. Awards are given in the categories of adaptive reuse, addition/expansion, advocacy, archaeology, career achievement, community effort, education/interpretation, emerging leader, preservation planning, restoration/rehabilitation, stewardship, and sustainable design.
Formed in 1981, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota is a statewide, private, non-profit organization made up of “citizens concerned about the loss of irreplaceable segments of our state’s heritage: structures, neighborhoods, community fabric.”
Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center opened on July 4, 2010. The museum features interpretive and interactive exhibits that focus on the cultural and natural history of the Gunflint Trail. Five nature trails crisscross the Nature Center’s 50-acre grounds. The museum is open daily through Oct. 17 and will be open from Memorial Day weekend through mid-October in coming years.
Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is located 55 miles up the Gunflint Trail. The museum is housed in the former Chik-Wauk Lodge, which was constructed in 1934. More information is available at www.chikwauk.com.
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