Friday, April 16, 2004

Seaside Museum breaks ground on archive addition

By HELEN WARRINER
The Daily Astorian
hwarriner@dailyastorian.com

SEASIDE — Construction of a new archive storage area at the Seaside Museum is under way, thanks to help from Tongue Point Job Corps students.

The single-story, 800-square-foot addition on the north side of the museum will be used to store museum artifacts and photos, with proper lights, temperature and humidity control, said Helen Gaston, the Seaside Museum and Historical Society’s board treasurer. Gaston was the featured speaker at Thursday’s Seaside Downtown Development Association meeting.

The new room will be very simple, with no windows or plumbing and should be completed by July 1. The museum’s present archive storage room will be used for exhibit storage and research materials.

“We’ve run out of space for our archives collection and we’ve been storing supplies all over town,” she said. “We will be able to bring these items back to the museum.”

Seaside Architect Robert Johnson donated his time to draft a building plan and ground preparation was completed last week by city employees. Students from Tongue Point Job Corps masonry vocation program staked out the site last week and will donate labor to build the foundation. The museum has a verbal commitment from the Clatsop County Homebuilder’s Association to donate labor for the rest of the addition’s construction, Curator Mark Tolonen said.

The estimated cost of the project is $60,000 and the Society already has $15,000, donated by former board member Laurene Hawley. It is seeking donations through a capital campaign, which has already garnered about $2,350 from individuals. The Society also plans to ask the city for $10,000 and pursue grants, Gaston said.

“We need more,” she said. “The only way we can come up with anything new is with your help.”

Any donation made to the museum is tax-deductible. Donations may be brought to the museum, 570 Necanicum Drive, or mailed to P.O. Box 1024, Seaside, OR 97138-1024.

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Content © 2004 The Daily Astorian