Crow Wing County Historical Society Museum To Get Upgrades

“The building houses artifacts and history from Crow Wing County,” said Pam Nelson, Crow Wing County Historic Museum Director.

It’s a long history that is worth preserving.

“There are things that needed to be changed to safeguard our collection,” Nelson said.

Over the years, leaky windows have caused concern for the artifacts inside.

“We have some clay tiles on the roof that are breaking so those need to be prepared,” said Rachel Breun, Crow Wing County Facilities Coordinator. “The windows need updating, gutter repairs need to be done. There is leaking on those which is causing drainage down the building and damage to the mortar.”

Also on the top of the renovation list for the inside is updating building code compliance and ADA accessibility.

“A big thing that they are going to do is the HVAC,” Nelson said. “This time of year our humidity is down to 10 percent, and that is not good for wood or anything here.”

Maintaining the Crow Wing County Museum building is an important step in preserving the rich history in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Not only are the items inside something to treasure, but the building itself was built over 100 years ago back in 1917.

“It was used as a jail facility at that point with the jail cells in the south of the building and the Sheriff’s residence in the front,” Breun said.

The building that has been transformed from jail cells to a collection of all things Crow Wing County will see major upgrades thanks to a grant from the Minnesota Historical Society worth $224,000.

“It’s not a very typical process for Crow Wing County,” said Reid Thiesse, Crow Wing County Facilities Manager. “It’s something new that we tried; it started about 5 years ago and we stuck with it, and it is definitely a large sum of money that helps offset some of the costs that would normally be asked for from the taxpayers.”

All of this is done to preserve local history for generations to come.

“It’s a piece of our community, it’s the history of Crow Wing County,” Breun said.