OHC looking for a new managing partner for Schoenbrunn

With the recent announcement the Dennison Depot will no longer manage Historic Schoenbrunn Village, volunteers will be more important than ever as a transition is made. The site will revert back to Ohio History Connection management on April 1. The OHC is the owner of the site.

Volunteers provide many of the educational activities at the village, especially during tours and special events. They also help clean and mow the site and plant the gardens that help make Schoenbrunn a serene place to visit and learn about life in the 18th century.

On May 3, 1772, Rev. David Zeisberger, other Moravian missionaries and Christian Delaware families arrived at the site of Schoenbrunn. Zeisberger had been invited to establish a mission at the invitation of the Delaware leader Netawatwees.

The Dennison Depot answered the call 15 years ago when the Ohio History Connection, which owns the site, put out a call for community partners to help lead and bring stronger community engagement to their network of 58 sites across the state. The depot was one of the first organizations to take on the challenge.

“We thought we could make a difference,” said Wendy Zucal, director of the Dennison Depot Railroad Museum.

Accomplishments made at the village during the time it was managed by the Dennison Depot include reopening the lower level and hiking trails to the public.

“I would say our effort always was focused on the upper level to get it completed. A lot of work went into the cabins. I think the master plan was trying to get the village back to where it was at its peak of reconstruction,” Zucal said. “We were missing four cabins. Our goal was to get those back, and we are 50% of the way with the ghost house and the plans done for the third one.”

Zucal would like to see the momentum continue to rebuild the missing cabins. She is pleased with the efforts to update the interpretation of the village with a stronger Delaware and Moravian voice and the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the village.

The board of the Dennison Depot Railroad Museum made the final decision to give up management of the village in November 2022 with the growth they have experienced at their own two museums — the Dennison Depot and the Clay Capital Heritage Center in Uhrichsville.

“We have grown exponentially from when we started. We didn’t have Pullman (a train car available as a bed and breakfast). We didn’t have the Street Side Center. We didn’t have the business car. The clay museum is getting ready to go under major construction, and we have some other projects in the works as well,” Zucal said.

The work of the depot at the village has not gone unnoticed.

“The accomplishments made together with the Dennison Depot at Schoenbrunn were significant,” Ohio History Connection Executive Director and CEO Megan Wood said. “We were able to complete archaeology, make repairs to all of the structures, restore the large pavilion in the lower level and make updates to the visitor center. The landscape was vastly improved with trees, decorative and historic gardens, and we completed a very important tribal reburial. Thanks to the partnerships that were built, Schoenbrunn is in a better place. We are deeply grateful to the Dennison Depot Museum staff, board and volunteers.”

The depot increased hours of operation at the site and developed an event calendar with a variety of events such as the Colonial Trade Faire, “Sleepy Hollow” outdoor drama, spring and fall lantern tours, the Great Pumpkin Glow, Children’s Day, the Food Truck Fest, Homeschool Day and more.

The depot offered the benefits of a three-museum History Loop with a unified branding message, updated logos and marketing campaigns, triple tickets with discounts, a jointly themed scavenger hunt for children, a collaborative newsletter, volunteer hopper initiative, and a joint membership program that offered a supersize option to include memberships to all three museums.

As of now no changes are being made at Schoenbrunn.

“Business will continue as usual with school tours and most of the events. We’re anticipating it will open up the same date and run the same hours,” Zucal said.

She encouraged people to call to schedule tours and weddings for the year.

One event held on Labor Day weekend, the Food Truck Festival, will move to the Dennison Depot this year. Though previously held at Schoenbrunn, the event was manned by volunteers of all three museums, and all the museums benefited from the event. According to Zucal, there has been interest in moving the event around to the other museum locations.

The OHC will hire staff this season. Although the organization will run Schoenbrunn in the interim, they will look for a new managing partner to replace the guidance and oversight provided by the depot staff.

“They’re going to meet with the volunteers and keep them updated. And as this progresses, we’ll keep everybody in the loop,” Zucal said. “They’ll definitely still need volunteers. Volunteers are very important to that site.”

As the news spread, Zucal said the depot has received positive feedback and thanks for their efforts the past 15 years. She thanked the community for their work too.

“Everything that’s been accomplished has been a team effort between the depot, OHC, and the community is a big part of it. Community, volunteers, the Moravian Church and the Delaware — everybody worked together. We don’t claim all the success. We just maybe helped lead it forward, but it’s a group effort,” Zucal said.

The depot staff will be happy to help with the transition.

“I love the site. It’s a beautiful, peaceful site. It’s been our honor to operate it, and we only hope for the best in the future,” Zucal said.

For anyone who purchased triple tickets or memberships last year, those will be honored through 2023. Zucal encourages everyone to visit the village this year as the second phase of the new museum exhibit will be installed this spring.

In 2022 the depot led the 250th anniversary of the founding of the village, marking the occasion with a grand ceremony and commemoration. A number of legacy gifts were completed including two new cabins, a sculpture honoring the Delaware, a tree-planting effort and the first phase of the new interpretive plan, which adds a stronger Delaware voice into the narrative.

The anniversary will wrap up in May with the completion of the second phase of the new exhibition. All the accomplishments were made possible with the help of the village’s staff and volunteers.