The Montezuma County Heritage Museum is set to open for viewing this summer after a lengthy remodeling process.
Construction on the $314,000 project, by Kimble Construction and Silver Creek Builders, will finish in February. According to Montezuma County Historical Society Board Chairwoman Ann Brown, painting finished up last week and the flooring is nearly done. Letters will be put up on the building in the coming week.
The museum has received funding from over 200 businesses, individual donations and several grants. Multiple individuals have made donations of $10,000. Robert Longenbaugh, who died late last year, donated $20,000. The museum’s assembly room will be named after him.
“The community was very supportive of us putting together a museum,” Brown said. “It is so humbling to see how generous people have been.”
While many decisions regarding exhibits still need to be made, Brown told The Journal that some of the subjects the museum will cover include early Native Americans, Spanish explorers, pioneers, mining, timbering, cattle and local agriculture.
“There’s a lot of history in this county, and we’re going to try and tell as much of the story as we can,” Brown said.
The museum will include about 2,000 square feet of exhibits, a small audio-visual theater, a large meeting room for educational workshops and other programs, a museum shop and an archive and research center.
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