Many Pipestone residents have been stopping in at the museum during this last week to find out what the wooden structure on the front of the building is all about.
“We are replacing the full story windows with replicas of the former garage doors,” said Susan Hoskins, executive director of the Pipestone County Museum.
When it is was built in 1896 as the city government building, what is now the museum housed not only the city offices, but the fire hall as well. At that time, the front of the building had two large garage doors. What is now the programming room and Gallery 1 housed the fire trucks.
“The north half of the main floor was essentially a garage,” Hoskins said.
The Pipestone County Historical Society bought the building in the 1960s and opened it as the museum in 1968. The garage doors remained in place until the 1970s, when they were replaced with the floor-to-ceiling windows donning the front of the building to this day.
“It’s funny how they improved the building and now we’re improving it back,” Hoskins said. “Ideals change.”
The idea of replacing the windows came about, in part, because the seals around the double-paned windows have gone bad, causing condensation between the panes and allowing the outside air to seep in. Last winter, Hoskins said they covered the windows with plastic and on windy days, the plastic visibly moved with the wind.
She fears the windows might also be letting in ultra violet rays, which could damage the artifacts over time.
The doors are also part of an ongoing effort to make the museum more user-friendly and to restore it to its original look. A few years ago, a wall was removed from the large gallery at the front of the building on the first floor, opening the room up to make it available as an activity and meeting room. It also restored the room to a look more similar to that of when it was used as a garage.
“We thought putting doors where doors were meant to be was a good idea,” she said. “It will look more like the building was meant to look.”
The new doors will have insulated glass with ultra violet protection manufactured into them providing better protection from the elements and protecting the artifacts. Hoskins said she would also like to be able to open the north door when it’s installed so she can bring some larger artifacts into the building.
It could be a problem, she said, getting the doors to seal well if they can be opened because garage doors do not typically provide an airtight seal. That concern will be addressed by Tim Otto, of Otto Construction, who is building the replica doors based on blueprints created by Brendan Beyers.
Hoskins said she is not sure when the project will begin or be completed: Otto is awaiting the arrival of thick lumber to build the doors. In the meantime, the museum is still in need of donations to complete the project.
“It’s a $23,000 project and we have raised about $17,000 of it,” Hoskins said.
Much of the $17,000 has come from grants, including $8,000 from the Minnesota Historical Society, $2,500 from the United Way of Pipestone County and $2,000 from the Fishback Financial Corporation Community Fund. The remaining $4,500 has come from the museum’s endowment and donations.
“It’s kind of a nice balance of community support and bringing the money into the community ourselves,” Hoskins said.
Anyone who would like to make a donation to help cover the remaining $6,000 can stop into the office from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday or send a donation to the museum at 113 S. Hiawatha with a notation that it be used specifically for the doors.
“We’re still really hoping for donations,” Hoskins said.
