Region of Three Oaks Museum breaks ground on expansion

Shovels were in the ground Friday, May 19, to officially mark members of The Region of Three Oaks Museum Board of Directors taking big steps to prevent the museum from “drowning in history.”

As a result of running out of space to store the artifacts, photos, and documents that tell the rich history of Southwest Michigan, the museum has embarked on a capital campaign to raise money to build a 1440-squarefoot addition to the existing museum that will be located just to the south of the museum building.

The museum has raised more than $80,000; however, it still needs to get to $104,000 to completely pay for the expansion project. It was announced on the museum’s Facebook page that, at the groundbreaking, the museum received a check for $500 and pledges of $2000 more.

Judy Jackson, a founding member of the museum and volunteer, said that Ron Jelinek, a former state representative and senator who was a driving force behind the effort to bring a history museum back to the region, befriended the curator at the time at Michigan State University, where a lot of the collection from the former museum had gone.

The Chamberlain-Warren Museum,

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

which was in the building that houses Three Oaks Township Library, closed in 1952, after 36 years in existence. Several of the large items from the original museum are stored underneath the university’s football museum.

As a result of Jelinek’s efforts, the museum’s board of directors still has a “good rapport” with MSU. Recently, they were offered very large items to bring back to the museum: a small sleigh, a very large ornate mirror, which will go in Heritage Hall (which was purchased by the museum), a hears carriage that has carved wood curtains and a carriage with gas lamps.

“These are the types of things that we’re going to acquire from MSU – it’s matter of going to pick them up and we’re working on that right now, but we need a place to house these things and a lot of other artifacts that generous people have given us,” Jackson said.

Board member Nick Bogert added that there are also several items on the third floor of the library that they’d also like to store in the new addition.

He added that Beverly and Jerry Kohn, owners of Corvette Central, may offer some equipment to help move some of the items from MSU.

The entire endeavor has been a community effort. Vicky Gudas, a local resident and former board member, has been writing grant proposals.

The Pokagon Fund awarded a $10,000 grant toward the project. Dan Petersen, executive director of the Fund, said the Fund recognizes “what a significant cultural and historical asset the museum is to the community and preserving all the memories that were made here and all the history that has taken place in Three Oaks.”

“As an outsider who came in walking through The Region of Three Oaks Museum for the first time it’s amazing what the museum has been able to preserve,” he said.

Lisa Cripps-Downey, president of the Berrien Community Foundation, which also gave the museum a $10,000 grant, said the project was the community’s way of showing how important the past is to them.

“The past informs our future and we should all learn about it and that you’re just taking such ownership of it as a community - it’s just wonderful,” she said.

The museum has partnered with the Village of Three Oaks, as it’s applied for the William J. Deputy Grant, which is only available to municipalities and local units of government.

“It’s amazing that Three Oaks has a museum they can call their own, not too many communities are fortunate to have something like this and the support with everyone – volunteers, the Pokagon Fund and Harrington and Berrien Community Foundation - we’re glad to be part of it,” village manager Dan Faulkner said.

In a separate project, Kevin Harrington, owner of Harrington’s Photography in Three Oaks, took some old photos that had been “moldering” in the back of the library and restored them by making photos of the negatives that couldn’t be salvaged and prints of the ones that could. The photos were donated to the museum.

Bogert said the project’s timetable is 60 days.

Oatsvall Construction will be constructing the building. Ron Oatsvall, who built the museum, donated $1,000 toward the addition. Three Oaks native Art Klute, who used to sell shelving systems, helped the museum obtain museum quality, rolling shelving, through Mike Cavasin of Professional Systems Installation, which will be donating it to the museum.

Those who want to help the museum in their expansion efforts can send a check, made out to TROTOM, at PO Box 125, Three Oaks, MI 49125.