The Renville Museum is getting an overhaul beginning in 2019!
The Museum was first brought to life and nurtured by a passionate group of volunteers with an interest in preserving and sharing local history. Early events and exhibits were carefully planned and well-attended, and fundraising events (like the “Old Tyme Vaudeville” shows of the early 1980s) were big successes. The volunteers in the Historic Renville Preservation Commission managed some big updates to the Museum, including the restoration of the old City Jail and the addition of a basement under the old schoolhouse.
But that was all more than 30 years ago.
The Museum has now outlived many of those original volunteers. A few dedicated souls have kept it going, but it needs some TLC – and a new generation of volunteers – to really take on a new life.
The improvement process has started, as many great improvement projects do: by making a huge mess! The collection has grown so much over the years, it is literally bursting out of our storage space. The first step is to answer two questions: what do we have? And how can we best preserve it?
As we go through the entire collection (not overwhelming at all), we’re also planning new displays, creating a website (welcome!), painting walls, creating a digital catalog, researching and writing, and much, much more. If you have an interest in helping, whether it’s for a day, a month, a year, or for eternity, we need you. And we have a job for you, no matter your skill or interest.
Currently, the Museum is closed for the winter months. There’s still plenty going on behind the scenes, and work in the building will pick up in the spring. We will re-open for Sugar Beet Days in June 2020.
Interested in volunteering? Please contact historicrenville@gmail.com.
