The Chase museum will soon be under new ownership, but don’t worry, it will still be business as usual.
Village of Chase Council recently agreed to purchase the museum, with an estimated value of $450,000, for a total of $50,000. The $50,000 would pay off all of the remaining debt incurred during the restoration of the museum following the 2011 fire, leaving only day-to-day costs.
“This is a fraction of the costs that were incurred to do the restoration,” says Joni Heinrich, Chase’s chief administrative officer, in an email.
While some of the funds came from the building insurance, a large portion was collected through continuous fundraising by museum volunteers.
The Chase and District Museum and Archives Society plans to lease the property back from the village and operate the museum as it normally would. The society would be held responsible for paying all bills such as electricity, gas, telephone and other costs associated with operating the museum. However, it will now be the village’s responsibility to fix a leaky roof or mow the lawn.
The village’s decision to accept the society’s offer may have ultimately saved the museum that the community has worked so hard to rebuild.
In a letter to the village on Oct. 4, Victor Pages, society president, stated that the society did not believe that the museum would be able to keep its doors open long-term, unless the village stepped in to help them out.
