Preserving the Past
|
If so, you should offer Warren County?s Heritage Alliance a word of thanks. This hard-working organization has been instrumental in bringing each of these projects to fruition.
According to current president Rachel Killebrew, Heritage Alliance evolved from an earlier organization dedicated to preservation.
?It was a renewal of the original Historical Society that used to be here,? Killebrew said. ?Our motto is ?Preserving our Past as the Foundation for our Future.? The museum is our latest big project.?
This project actually began as ?The Southern School of Photography Museum,? which was designed to honor the work of W.S. ?Dad? Lively, an internationally recognized photographer, inventor and educator who founded a photography school here. The museum project began through the efforts of a local history buff.
?It really was a dream of Jimmy Haley?s from the time he was a small child,? Killebrew said. ?He had done research on Dad Lively and had always wanted to have a museum to honor him.?
The idea grew, others joined in, and in 1994 the first strategic plan was done. But soon Heritage Alliance members began to see a chance to feature other aspects of local history.
?In 2004 we expanded the horizon of the museum,? Killebrew said, ?to the be the Warren County Heritage Center & Southern School of Photography Museum. We decided to expand it because a lot of people had donated some wonderful artifacts from the past of Warren County.?
Haley began talking to Jeff Golden, at what was then City Bank, now Regions Bank, about the building the bank owned at 115 East Main. The bank eventually agreed to let the group use it to house the museum, and work began in earnest in 2001.
?It didn?t have any electrical or plumbing and wasn?t really habitable,? Killebrew said. ?We realized it was going to take several years to rehab the building.?
Eventually ownership of the building was transferred to Main Street and Heritage Alliance will be operating in the museum under a lease agreement.
Since 2001 Heritage Alliance members have volunteered more than 3,000 hours of labor and almost $12,600 on the project up through 2004.
The group was able to save the original, and quite unique, tin ceiling and has completely refinished the natural wood floors.
?We had to rent scaffolding,? Killebrew said, ?and Jimmy Haley did most of the work on the ceiling. It took a year and a half, but it was well worth it. It is a beautiful ceiling.?
The group also did a lot of demolition work, repairs on the plaster, which had been damaged by leaks, built bathrooms and installed plumbing and electrical wiring.
Now that the building is essentially finished, Heritage Alliance is ready to begin scheduling events, according to Killebrew.
?This year is going to be an exciting year,? Killebrew said. ?During Preservation Week, which is the first week of May, the museum will open. The first exhibit is going to be on Veterans of Warren County. Because of the war in Iraq, and many of our soldiers being deployed, we thought that would be an interesting exhibit. Some of our memorabilia goes all the way back to W.W.II. The Preservation Awards will also be held at the museum during that week. Once we have the definite dates and times we will be making an announcement.?
The current Heritage Alliance board members are Rachel Killebrew, president, Jimmy Haley, vice president, Mary Robbins, secretary, Mary Mason, treasurer, Nancy Evans, Charles W. Johnson, Bruce Atnip, Alvie Guy, and David Swan.
Heritage Alliance president Rachel Killebrew shows some of the items that will be part of the Warren County Heritage Center & Southern School of Photography Museum?s first exhibit when the facility opens during Preservation Week, scheduled for the first week of May this year. In addition, the 2006 Preservation Awards program will be held at the museum as part of the Preservation Week activities.