Museum seeks new home

If you like to know where you’re at and why the place is what it is, a natural place to start is a facility that provides the history of the people and things that have made that place what it is.

And we have such a place. The Museum of North Idaho is a repository for the histories of Kootenai and Benewah Counties and parts of Shoshone County.

The museum has been operating on a shoestring for 40 years. But in those four decades the sole paid staffer, a part-time bookkeeper and a corps of volunteers have amassed a very respectable collection of stuff and stories.

Museum Director Dorothy Dahlgren, a Coeur d’Alene native and University of Idaho graduate with degrees in history and museumology, says the facility’s holdings comprise some 7,000 artifacts and 27,500 photos of old North Idaho, all donated by current and former residents.

Last year 56 people donated more than 450 artifacts, photos and archival material. Dahlgren says volunteers contributed hundreds of hours sorting and cataloging the artifacts and scanning historic photographs.

Volunteers also worked with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, scanning Native American photos for a tribal Internet project.

The main facility is housed in a city-owned former Cenex gas station on Northwest Boulevard adjacent to the city park in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

Come fall, supporters intend to start raising funds to build a new museum on city-owned property on the northwest corner of Mullan Road and Northwest Boulevard, an $8 million to $10 million project.

Even if you’ve not been in the current building, you’ve seen it. Chunks of turn-of-the-20th-Century steamboats grace the entrance, and just to the north, at the front of the parking lot, is the museum’s largest artifact, a 50-ton engine donated by the Potlatch Corp. when its local mill closed.

The North Idaho Museum is a busy place that, according to Dahlgren, has outgrown its home.

Open to the public 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays from April 1 to November, volunteers logged in some 6,000 visitors in 2008. About 38 percent were Kootenai County residents.

Each year, Dahlgren and volunteers create an exhibit that highlights the area’s past and provides something new for return visitors. For example, this year, the theme is forestry. Last year, it was the history of aviation in North Idaho, and previous years’ exhibits have included a historic dentist’s office, exploration of the dairy industry, a beauty shop, early Native American life, archaeology, family folklore and World War II.

Dahlgren is currently seeking information, photos and artifacts to illustrate the history of Scandinavians in the region for the 2010 exhibit.

In addition to perusing the exhibits, last year more than 100 people accessed the museum’s archives and photo collection in the facility’s library and office which is open year round.

Incidentally, the historic photos of North Idaho you see in local offices, restaurants and private homes probably came from the museum. For a minimal fee, anyone can buy copies for his or her own use.

In addition to the main building on Northwest, the museum owns the historic Fort Sherman chapel, a small storage facility, and has exhibits in the Fort’s powder magazine, a historic ammunitions storage facility which is owned by North Idaho College.

The chapel is preserved with the help of volunteers, donations and rental income from an Alcoholics Anonymous group and weddings, plus an annual donation from the Coeur d’Alene Athletic Charitable Trust.

The museum has been supported by admissions, gift shop sales and, currently, 500 members, each of whom pay at least $25 per year. They receive quarterly newsletters and free admission.

It also has received a $100,000 grant from the John Harrison Estate, Kootenai County contributes $15,000 yearly, and each year it receives small grants for specific projects.

Last year community sponsors included US Bank, Specialty Tree Services, Spokane Teachers Credit Union, Mountain West Bank, RDI Heating & Cooling, Panhandle State Bank and Empire Airlines.

Also helping to pay the freight is the Museum of North Idaho Press, which now includes 16 books on subjects of local and regional interest.

The museum is beginning an outreach program to create awareness of its holdings and the need to build on its past.

A new hire is development officer Sandy Visnak, formerly a fundraiser for United Way of Spokane.

She and Dahlgren are visiting homes of members who volunteer to invite friends and neighbors for a presentation on the museum’s past and potential future. They’re also making similar presentations in the museum itself and plan to visit city and county offices plus civic organizations, all to build awareness of the museum’s needs.

The outreach program coincides with the fall fundraising drive to build the new museum.

“We want to make sure the Museum of North Idaho will be a legacy for our region,” says Dahlgren.

“Because history is lost every day, we want to increase our capability to preserve the region’s heritage for current and future generations.”