Museum & Arts Center wins historic preservation award
Published 12:01 am Thursday, May 10, 2012
SEQUIM — The Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley has earned a 2012 State Historic Preservation Officer’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation for its stewardship of the Dungeness Schoolhouse.
To celebrate, a MAC members-only reception will be held at the schoolhouse, 2781 Towne Road, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 19.
All current and lifetime MAC members, and those who join at the door, are encouraged to attend the reception, which will include tea and orange tea cake refreshments.
Membership forms are available on the MAC website at www.macsequim.org.
The Sequim-based organization has owned and operated the two-story, 1892-built schoolhouse for the past 17 years.
The MAC is among 13 individuals and organizations from across the state to earn a 2012 award, presented by the state Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation.
The awards program recognizes people, organizations and projects that have achieved distinction in the field of historic preservation, with the stewardship award bestowed upon those with a long and distinguished track record of preserving a historic site.
“The Dungeness Schoolhouse has a long history of being well-loved and preserved in the community, and this stewardship award reflects that,” said MAC Executive Director DJ Bassett, who accepted the award at a ceremony in Olympia on May 8.
Collective achievement
“This is a great collective achievement for our organization, and our resolve to preserve and celebrate the schoolhouse and utilize it to its full potential is as strong as ever.”
Bassett said countless volunteer hours have been invested in the local landmark’s upkeep over the years, with ongoing maintenance and preservation efforts, including repainting the building’s entire exterior last summer, funded through donations, fundraisers and grants.
The MAC recently received $3,000 from the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the state to fund electrical upgrades throughout the schoolhouse.
Completed by Allen Electric and Jeff Nelson Electric of Sequim in March, the upgrades have increased the building’s overall electrical capacity and included health and safety component improvements, installation of new electrical circuits and upgrades to existing outlets.
They also made possible the installation of a wireless Internet connection a few weeks ago, Bassett said.
“At 120 years old, our historical schoolhouse has just taken a giant leap into the 21st century,” Bassett said. “In doing so, it truly fits the bill as a multiuse facility.”
For more information, visit www.macsequim.org.
To rent the building, phone managers Mike and Kathy Bare at 360-477-4240 or email schoolhouse@macsequim.org.
