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Move to expanded museum under way
Area Museum begins move-in process
Date published: 10/7/2008
BY EMILY BATTLE
A big white tractor-trailer at Princess Anne and William streets yesterday morning marked the beginning of a move-in process that many in downtown Fredericksburg have awaited for more than two years.
Off the truck came walls and structural elements of the exhibits that will inhabit the Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center's Catherine W. Jones Mc-
Kann Center.
That new wing for the museum that started in the old Town Hall across William Street nearly 20 years ago has been under construction since July 2006.
The blocked sidewalks, the occasional lane closures to accommodate cranes and other equipment and the other things that go along with building something in an urban setting produced some gripes from neighbors and gave the regulars at the coffee shop across the street something to talk about.
The museum should have the sidewalk around it cleared within the next three to four weeks, said Mary Helen Dellinger, head of collections and exhibits.
It will open to the public Dec. 6.
In the meantime, museum staff and contractors will be working inside the 81-year-old former bank building and the old retail building that has now been connected to it to build the exhibits.
This week, they're starting with the first layer of that process--the walls that will hold all the graphics, multimedia presentations, artifacts and other elements.
Over the next several weeks, they'll be bringing in a custom-made cabinet from Germany to hold elements of the Johnson gun collection, and will have to hand-carry some pieces of the museum's collection across William Street from the old Town Hall building.
A lot of work remains, but compared to the construction phase of the project, when the old buildings presented contractors with structural surprises that added to the construction time, this part should be easier to plan.
"Over the next eight weeks, it's going to come together fairly quickly," Dellinger said.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com
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Date published: 10/7/2008
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