Region of Three Oaks Museum to break ground on expansion project

TThe Region of Three Oaks Museum (TROTOM) will break ground on a major expansion project at noon Friday, May 19, at the museum, which is located at 5 Featherbone Avenue in Three Oaks.

TROTOM has been “drowning in history,” running out of space to store the artifacts, photos and documents that tell the rich history of Southwest Michigan. Thanks to a capital campaign that’s raised in excess of $80,000, help is on the way, in the form of a 1440-square-foot addition to the existing museum, in the heart of Three Oaks.

Museum board members and community supporters will celebrate this expansion at a groundbreaking ceremony just to the south of the museum building. Museum board members will be on hand, and we’ve invited village officials who have partnered with TROTOM on a grant application. There will also be representatives from the Pokagon Fund and Berrien Community Foundation, both of which awarded $10,000 grants to help make the project happen.

After the ceremony, the museum will offer attendees special guided tours of the museum, which opened for the season May 5.

There are two other storage sites where museum items are being temporarily housed while construction is completed:

• The attic of the Three Oaks Library houses dozens of large items, and has since the museum moved out of that building in 2013 and

• Storage area under the stands at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing has housed outsized artifacts from Three Oaks for decades, but now stadium officials are reclaiming that space, so large items including a hand-carved undertaker’s wagon, sleigh, and elegant carriage will be returning to Three Oaks this summer.

The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday through the end of October. — STAFF