By Jason Schoonover

jason.schoonover@austindailyherald.com

Two construction projects coming up at the Mower County Historical Society are going to help make the facilities more user friendly, both for the public and for staff.

The Mower County board voted 4-0 Tuesday, with Commissioner Tony Bennett absent, to approve $17,875 to install bathrooms in the Pioneer Building and $6,625 to renovate the Collections Building, which formerly housed the Williams Indian Collection that was removed in the past few years as part of the deaccessioning process — an ongoing project to remove items from the society’s collection to free up space.

Though the cheaper of the two, Executive Director John Haymond says the Collections Building work is the most important piece in terms of strategic planning, as it will address the society’s biggest problem: adequate storage space.

The work will make the building climate controlled by adding insulation, code-compliant sheetrock and electrical work. Many of the society’s artifacts must be stored in climate-controlled environments to prevent mildew, mold and other issues.

The building will then be retooled for thorough inventory, more organized and more adequate storage uses.

That will free up space at the antique fire hall, which will be able to reopen as an exhibit next year after being used for several years as storage.

“That will take care of several problems simultaneously,” Haymond said.

The fire hall will again be able to display three antique engines, an antique ambulance, and an extensive collection of firefighter memorabilia and history. The space also currently houses most of the overflow military collections of uniforms, weapons and insignias, and it’s not yet clear if that would remain in the hall or move to another space.

Work to prepare the fire hall for visitors will likely happen this summer, according to Haymond, and it could open next spring.

Work on the Collections Building will likely begin after the fair, which is the busiest week of the year for the Historical Society.

Work to install the bathrooms in the Pioneer Building began this week. The work is the next phase in a series of upgrades to the building which included new lighting and a new HVAC system last year.

The bathrooms will be a big help for the public, as Haymond noted the Pioneer Building has become a bit of an event space by hosting the Historical Society’s annual meetings, its Lunchbox History Series, Christmas in the County and other events.

Currently, visitors must go to the administrative building to use the bathrooms.

However, the contractors and Haymond face some unknowns with that work. Though the pioneer building previously had bathrooms, the city couldn’t find record of where the building tied in with the sewer system, but Haymond said they now believe it previously connected to the fair’s sewer system.

Haymond thanks the county commissioners for approving the funding for the project and County Coordinator Craig Oscarson for helping with the work.

“The county commissioners have been incredibly generous with this,” he said.

Haymond expects the collections building work and the Pioneer Building bathrooms to be done by the end of September.

Visitors will still have something new to look forward to at the Mower County Fair. Curator Jaimie Timm will have two new exhibits ready for the fair: one is a history of women on the farm in Mower County and another is on courtship in days of horse and buggy.