Built in in the early 80s, the Golden Museums Outdoor Exhibit Building was built on wooden footings that over the last 30 years had deteriorated so much the front face of the building was twisted and the doors no longer lined up or would shut. We are pleased to announce that thanks to grants from the Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives and Affected Areas Program and CKCA the building has been completely restored.
At 30 plus years the old building was close to the end of its life. Water would run through the building during normal spring runoff and was causing damage to the artifacts inside Local contractor Will Cunningham Construction began the work in early May.
The artifacts were removed and safely stored and then the real work began. The large doors in the front of the building were removed and Cunningham created braces to steady the building while the whole thing was lifted to make room for the footings to be dug by hand. Once the footings were dug forms were built and concrete poured that would act as footings as well as sills for the front of the building.
Once the concrete cured work started to realign the front of the building including changing the placement of the doors. The entire front and both ends of the building had to be sheeted with new plywood as the old plywood was too weather damaged. Next the entire interior of the building was sheeted to allow us to use the walls for display purposes. Viewing platforms surrounded by ¾ minus gravel were installed in each of the three exhibit rooms allowing for a smooth transition into each room.
To finish it off both the interior and the exterior of the building were painted. The interior was painted a bright white that brightens the areas for the viewing public. The exterior has been painted to match other buildings on the museum grounds making it all much more cohesive.
Thank you to our major grantors; CKCA and Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives and Affected Areas Program, for their contributions as well as to those who donated to the project Golden Truck Loggers Association and the Columbia Valley Credit Union. We couldn’t have done it without you!
