Seymour Museum continues to make improvements

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While total completion of the Seymour Museum Center has a ways to go, it’s making progress.

Museum President Lenny Hauersperger said the museum, located at 220 N. Chestnut St. in downtown Seymour, has experienced improvements over the course of 2019. 

Since spearheading the project in 2015, Hauersperger said about $100,000 in renovations have been made.

Architects have estimated it will cost $3.2 million to finish the building, but Hauersperger believes it will cost under $500,000 thanks to sponsors.

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Built in 1918 with neoclassical architecture and Bedford limestone, the building served as the city’s first post office, city hall and the Seymour police station.

In 1995, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Seymour Redevelopment Commission helped pay for a new roof on the building allowing more changes to be made inside.

Restoration of the windows, which went in this year, were paid for by sponsors. Individuals paid $1,600 for a nameplate on the windows, which had to be sent out-of-town to be restored to their originality.

Individuals and businesses also have helped with the project’s advancement this year.

  

Hauersperger said Seymour Decorating continues to donate paint, Seymour Main Street paid for a new sign, Jackson County Bank donated new bathroom fixtures, and the city has sponsored a trash dumpster, since it’s city-owned property.

 

At a recent board meeting, the Jackson County Visitors Center presented a $2,000 check to the cause. The Community Foundation of Jackson County also recently awarded a $433 grant for shelving to the museum.

 

Hauersperger said the board brought in somewhere between $38,000 and $40,000 from the sale of a house that was donated to the museum through a will by Mary Vehslage. Boy Scout Troop 529 helped clean the house up and board member and Realtor Carol King sold it a few years ago.

 

One of the big goals for next year is to install heating and cooling in the building, Hauersperger said.

 

The museum hosted a couple of exhibits this year. During Cars and Guitars in June, the Indiana Historical Society’s History on Wheels exhibit rolled into town and set up outside the Seymour Museum Center, courtesy of local sponsors.

The mobile exhibit, free to the public, let kids climb into the driver’s seat of a mini IndyCar. Adults could use a touchscreen to check under the hood of a model based on a 1914 Marmon touring car. Inside the museum, local history exhibits focused on drag racing, vehicle-related manufacturing and other local transportation-related ventures.  During the Seymour Oktoberfest, the museum was open for a third straight year. Visitors could view an exhibit on the history of the Seymour Fire Department and check out the Southern Indiana Model Railroad Association’s train displays. In April of 2020, the museum will be taking over Parking Lot Pickers as a fundraiser. The annual event, held in April, typically hosts more than 40 vendors selling a variety of items.

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The museum is looking for additional sponsors. If you would like to become a major sponsor or donate, contact museum President Lenny Hauersperger at 812-530-9272; send a private message or donate on the museum’s Facebook page; or mail a donation to Seymour Museum Center, P.O. Box 1139, Seymour, IN 47274.

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