The museum has added insulation and CFLs to make the expansion energy-efficient.
The Hamilton County Historical Museum needs more space.
The museum currently resides in an old home. The kitchen displays historical kitchen appliances; one bedroom has World War II displays; and another has dresses and fashion from decades ago.
“We are desperately in need of more room in our museum,” said Frances Gardner, president of the Hamilton County Historical Museum.
The expansion will be into a cement block building across the street from the current museum location. Frances said: “It needs to be completely redone.”
It needs fluorescent lights, CFL light bulbs, sheetrock, insulation, energy-efficient heating and cooling units with programmable thermostats and a tankless water heater, she added.
That’s why she applied for — and received — a 2009 First Choice Power Reduce Your Use Grant.
“We will use what we learn about energy efficiency to improve, update, utilize and transform an old candle factory building into our Museum Annex and into a tourism asset for Hamilton,” Gardner said. ” We can then display more of our historical items to help educate young students and all of our visitors.”
The Hamilton County Historical Museum volunteers are busy painting and cleaning the building while installing CFLs and insulation to prepare for the expansion.
The new building will showcase more historical artifacts and allow the museum staff to expand on the great stories they are able to tell about Hamilton County.
Helping nonprofits be energy-efficient by awarding Reduce Your Use Grants is one way First Choice Power gives back to the communities it serves. Applications for 2010 grants are due April 15.
