Historical Society Looking For Funds To Repair Jail Roof Old Building Will Be Used As Museum

If the Westwood Historical Society is to turn a historical jail into a museum as it plans, it first must replace the roof.

Sky peeks through holes in the roof of Rathdrum’s old jail on Second Street, adding a sprinkle of sunshine to the dusty old building’s interior and seriously hampering renovation efforts.

“The roof needs help,” said Beverly Young, secretary-treasurer of the Westwood Historical Society. (Rathdrum originally was called Westwood.) “We can’t really do anything else to this until the roof is repaired.”

In some places, the boards supporting the roof are plainly visible. In others, plaster has broken off the ceiling and exposed the lath - narrow strips of wood used as a foundation for plasterwork - underneath.

“We’re hoping to find someone who is good with plaster,” Young said. “The lath is in good shape.”

So far, the Westwood Historical Society has received a grant from the Idaho Department of Commerce for $10,000 toward roof replacement. The money must be matched.

Society president Paul Matthews just applied for a second $10,000 grant from the Idaho Heritage Trust. He’s hoping that grant will provide the needed match to the first, he said.

Idaho Heritage Trust will make its decision on the grant sometime next month, Matthews said. If the Westwood Historical Society is turned down, the society still has about enough in-kind donations lined up for the roof job to match the Department of Commerce’s $10,000, Matthews said.

“We’ll keep going if we don’t get it,” he said. “We’ll find a way to get it done.”

The money would be spent on removing the current corrugated metal roof, strengthening the structure so that it later could support a bell tower like the one that originally adorned the building, and putting on the new roof, Matthews said. The new roof will be made of a fiberglass-clay composite and would look similar to cedar shakes, which was the building’s original roofing material.

“That was one of the biggest industries around here - making cedar shakes,” Matthews said.

The old jail was built in 1890 and used as the jail for what are now Kootenai, Bonner, Shoshone, Benewah and Boundary counties until 1908. At that time, the five northern counties were all one - Kootenai County - and Rathdrum was the county seat.

It was used as the city’s public library in the ‘60s or ‘70s, Young said, and most recently housed the city’s streets department.

“This building is in really good shape structurally,” Young said. “It’s just that weather and time and lack of proper use are showing.”

Once the museum gets started, Young said she hopes people who have ties to Rathdrum will pass along historical information about the city and donate or loan artifacts or old photographs. Someday, the society hopes to raise enough money to rebuild the bell tower and the outbuildings that once were attached to the jail.

Museum fund Donations to help turn the historical old jail on Second Street into a museum should be sent to the Westwood Historical Society, P.O. Box 227, Rathdrum, ID 83858. The historical society’s next meeting is Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Rathdrum Public Library.