The Allen County Historical Society has received a $28,800 grant from the Heritage Trust Fund to repair the Allen County Jail Museum.
Jeff Kluever, executive director of the Allen County Historical Society, said the funds “will help make the jail museum a stable building for the next generation.”
“This $28,800, when combined with the $14,400 donated to the society for jail repairs, means we have $43,200 for the project. We would like to thank those who donated to the Old Jail fundraiser which made this matching grant project possible,” Kluever said.
There were 46 applicants for Heritage Trust Fund grants, requesting a total of $3.2 million. Only half of the requests were funded. The committee only had $1 million to offer in grant funding. The committee decided to partially fund more projects, rather than completely fund a few projects, which is why the Allen County Historical Society did not receive the total amount it requested which was $57,600.
That being said, this was a very competitive grant process and the society is happy to receive the $28,800 to help save the jail, Kluever said.
Since the society did not receive complete funding for the jail project, it has not been established which portions of the proposed project will be completed using the funds.
“I am guessing that the funds will be enough to cover window replacements and repairs and mortar repairs,” Kluever said.
The society will look for additional grant funding to try and complete the interior plaster repairs or any other work that cannot be completed with the grant.
“We are hoping repairs can begin as early as June or July,” Kluever said.
THE SOCIETY also has received a $400 grant from the Kansas Museum Association which was used to make a display case which is UV resistant and lit with an LED light to preserve delicate materials.
“We can now display handwritten diaries, which were usually written in pencil, that prior to the new display case would have been ruined from exposure to light,” Kluever said.
The current display is from Earl Ansell’s World War II collection of memorabilia and letters. The displays will change every three months.
The Allen County Historical Museum, 20 S. Washington, is open from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
