JULY UPDATE-

July has been a very busy month here, so many positive things going forward!  The construction crews are here working on the elevator addition.  Wires for electricity and phones have been strung and the new phone system is in. Our Front Desk Manager, Eli Jablonski is still answering incoming calls during business hours, but if you call and reach the automated receptionist, please know that we will respond as quickly as possible.

There has been a lot of work on the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) bathrooms and they plan to start dry walling soon.  Our parking lot is now out of public service and has been fenced around for safety and construction purposes.  We can still park at the old building thanks to Anne and David Cornwell. There is parking on Congress Street and W. State as well.

One of the crews difficulties this month is that the air conditioning unit for the left half of the building had to be taken out and will have to be installed in an alternate location. This July has been an extremely hot one and the crews have been working in near record heat both inside and out.  We thank them for hanging in there and getting the job done under these difficult circumstances.

The small elevator (called and elevette) has been dismantled and the crew is working on shoring up that space.

Our offices are now located both in the basement and the balcony.  The administrative desks of Tom O’Grady, Bosha Green and Eli Jablonski are upstairs and our Curator, Jessica Cyders, Special Projects Manager, Lynne Newell and the volunteers are down in the Collections area. Once construction is completed, our administrative spaces will change and we will keep you updated on relocations.

JUNE UPDATE

We made it!  We are now completely moved out of the old space, which is bittersweet- but focusing on the new opportunities at the new History Center is super exciting stuff!  The last big project at the old facility is moving the historic clock!  We have volunteers on board who are ready to move and reset the clock at our say, so look for more updates here on when the clock will be taken down and rededicated at the new History Center.

The movers did a great job in transporting not only the fragile things but also the very large, heavy things like our 2 safes! Much has been stored thanks to Brent and Cindy Hayes for donating space at the Quidel building on East State during the construction.  Once the building is finished, we can move everything back in, set up the Exhibits and get back to serving our members and the pu

blic with great historical museum space.  Our Curator has some really fantastic ideas so you won’t want to miss seeing the new exhibits in the brand new space.

As you can see, construction has begun to build the new elevator shaft and addition to the History Center.  The windows have been carefully removed and are being boarded up for now.  The old coal chute is being demolished to make way for the elevator shaft.

We have all the administrative spaces moved to the History Center now.  The Executive Director, Front Desk Manager and Museum Coordinator are all located temporally in the balcony. It’s going to be a noisy place here for awhile so if you call and hear lots of activity in the background, you’ll know why! Office space will eventually be built but for now, it’s the crow loft for this bunch!

The Curator’s office is located in the basement area now, along with several work spaces for volunteers and interns.

While the office will be functioning at the new location, the Library and Gift shop areas will be under renovation and not able to be reopened until construction is completed for those areas. Our downtime during this construction period will hopefully be a matter of a few months.  We have a soft reopening target for the holiday season and will keep our members and community informed of our progress.

Requests for genealogy research and information can still be made to the Levering Library by email to; library@athenshistory.org.  Genealogy books will not be available for sale until construction has progressed enough to set the library up in the new Southeast Ohio History Center.

We have great things planned- new exhibits and programs, historical concerts and performances, a comical and educational “History Game Night” as well as a new state of the art website where you will be able to shop, join and get involved!

If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at 740-592-2280.

We look forward to providing you with a new history center that you will love!