(Spirit Lake)– One of Dickinson county’s oldest buildings has undergone a major upgrade. Mary Dreier of the Dickinson County Museum tells KUOO news the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad depot, which is part of the museum, is now climate controlled thanks to a grant they received…
“We have with the funding from the Dickinson County Endowment Fund, been able to both put insulation in our 1883 depot. We’ve also been able to heat and cool it. And what that means for everyone is that from now on, the depot will be open 12 months a year. Previously it’s only been able to be open in the summertime, and even in the summertime it has been really too hot at time for folks to be out there, and of course in the winter it has been literally freezing out there. So now, folks will be able to use the depot year round.”
Dreier says having the depot climate controlled will also help preserve the artifacts in that part of the museum. And, she says, plans are in the works for a new interactive exhibit…
“It’s so exciting. You’ll be able to come into the depot space, you’ll be able to experience what it was like riding a train in our portal to the past. You’ll get to see what it looked like coming down the tracks and you’ll get to also hear what it sounded like coming down the track. And from there you’ll go the depot platform and all other aspects of what the depot was like back in the day.”
Dreier says it’s probably going to be a little more than year from now before the new exhibit can be ready…
“Well it’s going to take a wee little bit of fundraising first before we can pull the plug on this, but we are hoping to do the construction next winter. So we’re just at the cusp of this. We’re just beginning it. But it is so exciting. It is really going to revolutionize how we do museums here in Dickinson county.”
Dreier says a number of fundraising events are being planned, with more information to come.
