VAN WERT, Ohio (WLIO) - The Van Wert County Historical Society is preparing to expand its footprint with a new facility, and officials are turning to the public to help make it happen.
During a gala on Friday, members and guests were given an exclusive first look at the society’s building plans and details about a $1.5 million fundraising campaign. The initiative aims to fund the construction of a multi-purpose facility at the historical society’s campus.
Society leaders say the added space will enhance their ability to meet the growing demand for services.
The expansion is designed to serve a wide range of functions, including a flexible community meeting space that can host educational programs, rotating exhibits, and public events. Society leaders say the added space will enhance their ability to meet the growing demand for services.
"When individuals want to research, whether it be their home buildings, family members, if it's a one stop shopping where people can come in, we have trained individuals to help them. It makes their genealogy and research tasks much easier. For the preservation and storage area, we have a lot of newspapers, a lot of paper documents, and cloth that currently we just are not storing them in the most appropriate way,” said Theresa Mengerink, president of the Van Wert County Historical Society.
In addition to offering more space for research and preservation, the new facility will become the permanent home of David Humphreys Miller’s Faces of Little Big Horn collection.
