The old federal building at Third and Chestnut streets in Seymour has a long history of providing services to the public.

If one group of local residents has its way, that building, which has stood empty for nearly a decade, will again be returned to a place of importance in the community.

The project to turn the two-story limestone building from a derelict structure into a city museum has been underway for several years now, but some major improvements have occurred in the past year or so thanks to the efforts of the reinvigorated Seymour Museum Inc. board.

“It’s getting there,” board President Lenny Hauersperger said of the building. “We’re focusing on one room at a time.”

The building has served many functions in the past 100 years.

It opened as a post office in March 1918 after three years of construction and many delays because of issues with getting materials, including the marble, for the interior areas.

In 1967, the building was converted into city hall. It later became home of the police department and shared space with city hall until city hall was moved across the street in 1995.

The building became vacant in 2007 when the police department moved to a new location a couple of blocks to the east.

Even before the police station moved out of the building, there had been talk of converting the federal building into a city museum.

Read the full story in Thursday’s Tribune and online at tribtown.com.