PORT TOWNSEND— The Jefferson County Historical Society’s Research Center’s new building near the county airport is scheduled for completion in October, and will not be quite as fancy as it was once planned.
“We’ve had to cut back,” said Bill Tennent, the museum’s executive director.
“The available funding didn’t support our original plans.”
The $1.6 million building was funded with grants and private donations. It is located at 13692 Airport Cutoff Road, just south of the Wheel-In Motor Movie theater.
The new 8,700-square-foot structure is built adjacent to the converted church where the center is currently housed, with plans to build a circular, turret-like room that would join the two buildings.
The turret was sacrificed during the first budget revision last year, and will be replaced by a converted storage container that will provide access from one building to the other.
“If we ever get the funding we can go back to the original plan, but right now this will work just fine,” Tennent, who addressed the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce on Monday, said.
The original plan was to have both a meeting room and a computer room, but the new design allocates both functions into the same place.
While the new building is a no-frills structure, it fulfills the purpose of providing storage of and access to the documents and artifacts owned by the museum that provide perspective about Jefferson County history.
The bottom floor has two rooms dedicated to document storage and a third that will be used to house the large artifacts — such as an old hearse — that the museum has accumulated.
The lower floor also has a loading dock that provides an air-lock-style opening, where artifacts can be fumigated so that pests don’t threaten the entire collection.
The top floor will mostly store small artifacts held in shelves on tracks, so visitors can pull out the items and view them instead of having them on display. This system saves space, according to Tennent, as it allows researchers to have tactile contact with historical objects.
“Having the objects here provides a richer experience. People can see an old dress rather than just seeing a picture of one,” Tennent said.
Tennent said that many of the items that will be held in the research center are now being stored at Fort Worden State Park, where there is no public access to them.
Moving to the new location will not only provide the access but will make it easy for the museum to collect new objects and documents.
“A lot of people call us and say they want to donate something but want to know how old it should be,” Tennent said.
“It doesn’t have to be ancient,” he said. “If it happened yesterday, it is part of our history.”
Unlike most buildings in Jefferson County, the new center will be air-conditioned in order to maintain a consistent temperature for documents and objects.
Tennent said he expects “some kind of celebration” when the building is completed in October, but it will take a few months before everything is in place.
“I would like us to open up for the public by the first of the year.”
The existing research center is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, except for the third Saturday of every month, when the hours are noon to 4 p.m.
During inclement weather the research center may be closed.
Admission is $4 for adults, $1 for children younger than 12 and free for members.
For more information 360-379-6673.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.