The museum has been located in the basement of the Culver-Union Township Public Library and will be closed beginning Oct. 12 for three or four weeks to move to the new location at 101 W. Main St. George Waksmulski said it took a while to find a location, but they found a perfect fit for the museum and a new visitor center.
“We had been looking around for the last year at a number of very good properties in the Culver area and we settled on the First Farmers Bank and Trust building. That’s in the historical offices of W. O. Osborn – what used to be the state exchange bank here in Culver. The Antiquarian Historical Society and our museum committee, we intend to move into the southwest corner of the main floor there. There are three very wonderful older rooms in there that will allow the museum to not only stage different themes, exhibits, floor displays and research, it’ll also be used as a lobby area for our visitor center.”
An agreement between the Antiquarian Society and the bank is in the works and very close to being complete.
Wasmulski said that putting the museum and new visitors center together just makes sense as many of the visitors always ask about attractions in town to patronize. This will help visitors with history and town information in one stop.
Funding the move was one issue the museum ran into, but Wasmulski said organizations and businesses have been helpful in donating funds toward the project.
“To date, our visitor center/museum concept has received an award from the Marshall County Visitor’s bureau for $5,000 for the 2014 operating costs as well as a $15,000 award from the Marshall County Community Foundation to help cover start-up costs in getting the location in order before the start-up date,” said Wasmulski.
They are always accepting funds to help keep the organization functioning.
Waksmulski said the move will be an extensive project and he’s looking for volunteers to help in the transition.
“We do need a lot of volunteers for the next three weeks. Anyone who is interested in coming out and pledging a little bit of support to help preserve our area’s history and heritage, you can always contact us anytime through the website or at historyofculver@gmail.com. Just put volunteering in the subject line,” Wasmulski said.
The new museum and visitor center in the First Farmers Bank and Trust building at 101 W. Main Street is expected to open Nov. 12.
