Somerville Museum

By Cathleen Twardzik

Despite tough economic conditions, the Somerville Museum has raised $50,000 to make critical repairs to its outdated building, first built in 1925.

In 2008, the museum was awarded matching funds in the amount of $104,500 by the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund (MCFF) and MassDevelopment Corporation to undertake the repairs.

The total project cost is estimated at $209,000.

The Somerville Museum “has gone public with its request for additional funds,” said Barbara Mangum, Somerville Museum member and its Building Committee, as well as President of Historic Somerville (HS).

At present, the museum is working diligently to raise the remaining $55,000 by the February 14 deadline.

Even if additional funds are still needed after mid February, the cutoff date cannot be extended.

However, that will not end the museum’s fund raising effort – although, it would “deal a serious blow to the museum because we will no longer be able to match donations 1:1 with state funds,” said Mangum.

The museum’s repair will involve the replacement of the structure’s roof and gutters, as well as refurbishing and repainting its wooden windows. The museum’s goal is to complete the repairs this summer.

All of the work will meet the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for the Treatment of Historic Property, as well as those of the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission.

As a perk, $25 of a donation will go toward a 12 month membership at Historic Somerville. The remainder will be added to the building fund, from now until Valentine’s Day.

In the relatively near future, after the current repairs have been completed, the museum hopes to place insulation in the museum’s attic and install storm windows because the original project included those updates.

“If significantly abundant funds were raised, [then] the museum would upgrade its facilities to meet modern handicapped accessibility standards,” said Mangum.

For more information regarding donation specifics as well as the building campaign, interested individuals may log onto www.somervillemuseumbuildingfund.org.