The De Pere Historical Society is getting a big makeover.
On June 18, the historical society broke ground to expand its current White Pillars Museum building at 403 N. Broadway, De Pere. The space will get six times larger, expanding the current 1,000 square foot space to 6,000 square foot.
Currently, archive collections are housed at about six different storage facilities around the city, said McKim Boyd, De Pere Historical Society president. The expansion would allow all the materials to be housed in a new 700-square-foot archival center. The building will also have more interactive display options and a mezzanine for small events.
The small space also made it hard for the historical society to host programs or open the building up to group tours. They often had to depend on renting out other places, said Amanda Reif, director and curator of the historical society. The historical society hopes to be able to bring in students on field trips and offer lectures and other programs for adults.
“We’re going to be able to meet the needs of the larger community for both youth and adult groups,” Boyd said.
It’s taken 12 years to get to the groundbreaking. Another campaign for the expansion began a decade ago but didn’t get off the ground, Boyd said. The COVID-19 pandemic also delayed efforts to get started.
The current $5.3 million fundraising campaign has been running for two years. Boyd said about $4.7 million has been raised so far, and the historical society hopes to raise the remaining $600,000 to reach its goal.
The White Pillars Museum has been around since 1838. The De Pere Historical Society acquired it in 1973. Before demolition, the historical society will work to preserve a portion of the original front of the building.
Reif said the entire construction can take up to 18 months.
“It helps De Pere grow because it keeps people connected to their past which is a lot of what De Pere’s identity is today,” Boyd said.
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: De Pere Historical Society breaks ground on $5.3M expansion to sextuple its square footage
Reporting by Benita Mathew, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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