Rehabilitation of Former Burlington Public Library Underway
Posted by CC on September 22nd, 2008 3:21 pm
By February 2009, the grand gallery of the Des Moines County Historical Society Museum will open in the former Burlington Public Library. It will be followed by the Bart Howard Exhibit in March and the Catfish Corner preschool museum in June. Work is now underway on updating plumbing and electrical systems, replacing modern fluorescent lighting with period reproductions, readying the floors for installation of radiant floor heat (while preserving the historic hexagonal mosaic tiles), and installing new walls to set up rooms for the museum’s exhibit space without damaging historic walls. Rehabilitation costs are estimated to be around $500,000, half of which has been raised by the historical society. The rest of the funding comes from grants, including a Vision Iowa grant, a Historical Site Preservation Grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa, and a grant from Downtown Partners of Main Street Iowa.
