2025 will be a season of out with the old and in with the new for Alpine Hills Museum, and because of that, the museum will be closed during January.
The museum is currently in the midst of a major renovation project, removing the old, unused elevator in its four-story building and replacing it with a new one.
The project will see a new elevator shaft built inside the larger old elevator, and the process will take some time to complete. In addition, the even bigger and more imperative task at hand for the museum will be raising funds to cover the expense of adding the new elevator.
According to curator Becky Detwiler, the museum currently has approximately $135,000 on hand, a little more than half of what is needed to purchase and build the new elevator she said will enhance the museum greatly.
“The elevator is something that would be of great use for the museum, and it would allow people easy access to all of our floors,” she said. “I’m hoping that work begins and the elevator is done in 2025. I’ve set my goal very high, and we can’t keep dragging our feet on this forever.”
In its effort to fundraise for the new elevator, Detwiler said she will talk to various businesses and groups in hopes of finding a major donor or donors to support the project.
But she believes there are other avenues to explore, and one big hope is reaching out to the public in the area and asking for the simplest of support.
“If every household in the area simply donated $10 to the project, it would easily put us over the top,” Detwiler said. “I think $10 isn’t too much to ask, and it’s something that almost everyone can afford, and if people would like to give more, that would be great.”
She said because the museum focuses on the heritage and history of the community, the museum truly is a community-oriented one, and having everyone support it would create a united community effort.
“I think it would be really neat to see the entire community get behind this, and we would be so grateful for even that small of a donation,” Detwiler said. “We have such a caring and generous community, and we are so grateful for their support.”
In addition to properly blocking off all the elevator access points for safety purposes, digging a 4-foot pit in the old elevator in the basement is necessary in preparing to add the new elevator. There will be more construction on the third floor, where the control room for the new elevator will be.
David E. Miller is currently doing the work on preparing the old elevator shaft for the eventual placement of the new elevator.
Detwiler has been exploring elevator options for the museum for some time, and the need to move the project along now rather than later came about because of an inspection she said was eye-opening.
According to Detwiler, in her first year as curator four years ago, an inspector visited the museum, and Detwiler informed him the elevator was closed and locked up and could not be used. He left but said it would need regular inspections.
She and the board felt that because it was locked, there was no need to have it inspected. One year later another inspector visited and was more adamant about the inspection.
Thus began a series of fines that have since accumulated, and the museum must pay, initiating the effort to install a new elevator.
“We started talking about this as a board in 2022, and we talked about repairing it so we could move artifacts more easily,” Detwiler said. “Then we found out it would be a $40,000 repair, and that number was even fluid with a great deal of work, so we figured we may as well put in a new elevator so people can use it too.”
Detwiler has since been exploring every possible grant opportunity, and the museum board began investing in having Miller do the shaft work that would allow the installation to take place.
“I have other ideas I want to explore, but this one is the most time-sensitive one that needs to happen now,” Detwiler said. “I think this effort is worth it because this museum represents who we are and our Swiss history.”
Because of the work taking place on the shaft, the museum will be closed for all of January, except Martin Luther King Day on Monday, Jan. 20 and Saturday, Jan. 25. After that, the museum will be open on Saturdays starting in February.
Those who wish to join the united fundraising effort and donate $10 or more can mail their donation to Alpine Hills Museum, P.O. Box 293, Sugarcreek, OH 44681.
