Museum's 're-opening' unveils new era of access

SANDPOINT — One Friday, May 10, the Bonner County Historical Society & Museum swings wide its doors for a “grand re-opening” after a winter of major changes and notable improvements to the museum experience. Prepare to be wowed.

The message is clear as soon as you cross the threshold — this place has been revamped to create the kind of open and inviting feel that literally compels you to wander around and discover more about the region’s rich history.

In the past, visitors walked into what executive director Olivia Luther called “an under-utilized space” between the entrance and the ticket counter. As of this month, they’ll take a step back in time as they enter what looks an awful lot like the Humbird Mill company store, complete with display cases and retail items from that very location.

“It’s our general store,” Luther said, drawing attention to the combination of new gift and souvenir items for sale mixed in with staples and hard goods that might have been on the shelves a century or more ago. “It’s funny to watch people come in the front door now — they just stop in their tracks and look around.”

That reaction is only amplified when they continue into the exhibits, which now spill into every available nook and cranny of the building. Even one of the front windows has been turned into a display area, Luther explained, as the society starts a new chapter in its own history by moving items out of the storeroom and into public view.

“That’s important to us,” she said. “We want to use as much space as possible and get as much out as possible.

“Little by little, we’re adding things all over the museum,” the executive director continued. “No area has gone untouched. Even our bathrooms have exhibits.”

For those who think they know what the main exhibit room has to offer, a refresher course is in order. Although the popular displays are still in place, they have been appended and updated with a host of pieces that have not been seen by anyone but museum staff until now. Adding to those new displays is the inclusion of collections, which, in some cases, have been around for decades, while others were only recently added to the museum inventory.

One of the new exhibits claims the distinction of giving the historical society its start. In 1953, a group of local women began meeting at Sandpoint City Beach to discuss ways to collect and protect area history. The only artifacts they had at the time was a box containing the rock, mineral and fossil collection of Dr. Ethel Page Westwood. After moving from one basement to another before settling in the museum storeroom, key parts of that collection are finally on display.

“We focused only on the samples from Bonner County,” said Luther, “because the actual collection contains thousands of pieces.”

Also new is the collection of Cap Davis prints adorning the hallway that abuts the exhibit room. Last year, Verna Mae Davis and the Davis family donated the renowned local photographer’s complete set of negatives, slides and prints to the museum — a generous gift that Luther said will allow the public to explore his amazing body of work for many years to come.

“This is only the first of our rotating Cap Davis exhibits,” she said of the 35 prints currently on display. “We’ll be changing those quarterly.”

Some collections have simply been relocated for better exposure, such as the “First Ladies” exhibit that shows off miniature replicas of ball gowns worn by every first lady since Washington became president. For some time, that story was cut short due to the lack of more modern gowns, but a local seamstress named Jessica Jannsen saw the replicas and volunteered to bring the collection up-to-date.

Also out of mothballs, figuratively speaking, are many of the items donated by Loren Evenson, whose gifts remained in storage until this spring.

“He has been donating items for exhibition for more than a decade,” Luther said. “But this is the first time we’ve had them on display.”

In the larger picture, the Rural Electrification display has been completed in time for the grand re-opening, with additional period pieces and a ’40s-era documentary that runs alongside the exhibit and can be restarted by visitors as they view what the executive director called a glimpse of an important chapter in local history.

“Bonner County received the fourth Rural Electrification loan ever and the first loan west of the Mississippi,” she said.

“This exhibit gives a great look at local farm life, post-rural electrification.”

While no walls were knocked out in this latest round of renovations, the feng shui flow and feel of the museum make it seem as though they might have been. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the museum’s research room.

Once an isolated enclave, the room has been turned into the kind of public space that calls you in to have a seat and enjoy a good read in one of the easy chairs, or invites you to settle into one of the two public work stations, made possible through a matching grant from the Snedden family, available for research. There’s even free Wi-Fi available for guests.

One of the most exciting new additions to the museum, according to the executive director, is the influx of high school students who now stop by to work on research papers.

“I love to see that the kids are coming to use the museum,” she said. “It’s a huge resource. It’s really our responsibility to see that the public has access to our collection — and it keeps people coming back.

“We still have a long way to go,” Luther added, “but my goal is, through rotating exhibits, to make sure that everything we have is out on display at some point.”

Friday’s grand re-opening will include tours of the museum, as well as an open-door orientation to the research room, which now includes the museum’s library of more than 1,000 historical titles that were moved from a back room to improve public access.

The event represents a partnership between the Bonner County Historical Society & Museum and alumni of Leadership Sandpoint, which annually holds one of its most popular training sessions at the museum.

“We were approached by Justin Dick and Leadership Sandpoint, who said they wanted to help us get the word out that the museum is fresh and new,” Luther said, adding that refreshments and appetizers will be provided by Trinity at City Beach and door prizes will be given away throughout the afternoon.

Joining the museum staff and volunteers for the re-opening event will be members of the archeological team responsible for the dig that preceded construction of the Sand Creek Byway — a venture that peeled layers away from the original Sandpoint township on the east side of the creek to reveal what life was like before the turn of the 20th Century.

“I think they pulled a lot more out of the ground than anyone ever imagined they would,” said Luther.

“They’re bringing some pieces along that will be part of our Byway Exhibit and they’ll talk for a few minutes about each object, so it’s a nice sneak peek.”

The grand re-opening of the Bonner County Historical Society & Museum is free and open to the public this Friday, May 10, from 4-7 p.m. at the museum, located at 611 S. Ella Ave.

The following day, Saturday, May 11, the society will hold a plant sale starting at 8:30 a.m. in Lakeview Park, immediately adjacent to the museum. The sale will feature annuals from the Flower Farm, plus a selection of perennials, herbs, vegetables, berry plants and shrubs donated by local green thumbs.

For information, call (208) 263-2344.