Building a Legacy
Preserving the past for future generations.
NEED
Fifty years ago, when the Mount Joy Area Historical Society was funded, it filled a critical need in our community for Mount Joy history to be preserved. Our collection, featuring volunteer organizations, military and medicine memorabilia, school pictures and records, documentation of entertainment, sports, business/industry and everyday life in the Mount Joy area, has grown to the point where we will soon have to rent offsite storage space.
Meanwhile, donations of unique and valuable items that help tell the story of Mount Joy and the surrounding area continue to come in. Our historic AME Church and Cemetery Road Schoolhouse, and their connecting corridor, house the displays of our collection and are being used to capacity. Lining most walls are items waiting to be cataloged, preserved, and used in future displays. The church in particular needs updating.
Additions and Renovations
$425,000
Renovate AME Museum
- Replace carpet with wood flooring; upgrade electric and lighting
Build Addition
- Create an expanded public research area
- Create a dedicated archival area
- Install high-density shelving for future needs
- Purchase furnishings and equipment
- Expand display space
- Create climate controlled storage space
Capital Reserves
- Establish an endowment of $100,000 to be used for future renovations to existing spaces
Timeline 2025-2027
These projects will be scheduled as soon as funds are collected.
Funding Need
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Renovate current AME Museum | $ 50,000 |
| Addition | $200,000 |
| Furnishings | $ 75,000 |
| Capital Reserves | $100,000 |
| TOTAL | $425,000 |
| Matching funds and board contributions | $131,350 |
| Funds needed | $293,650 |
Proposal
Visitors touring the facilities, doing research and attending our programs enjoy the Historical Society’s many displays, but must sometimes navigate around stacks of items that have no place to be stored.
We propose to:
- Build a three level climate-controlled addition to solve our space issues. This addition would house archival items, provide volunteer workspace, expand our research library and create dedicated research and archiving areas.
- Purchase furnishings and research materials for archiving donated items, as well as expand digital options for photography, a data base, and oral histories.
- Replace the carpeted floor in the AME Church building.
- Create an endowment to provide continuous maintenance and upkeep for our building and grounds.
Flooring: The carpet in the AME Church is very old and worn, which contributes to the likelihood that mold and mildew could spread to our collections.
Research library and archiving activities: The space that accommodates our library area is poorly lit and inadequate for research or any large projects. Additionally, there is very little room for our archiving volunteers to function properly. They currently do their work on one eight-foot table in the Schoolhouse, which is where we hold our programs, conduct meetings and host the public. All archiving materials must be moved each time we prepare the room for a program or event.
Archival storage and shelf space: We store all past minutes from Mount Joy Borough, all originals of the Mount Joy Star and Herald and Mount Joy Bulletin, and original documents from a myriad of past and present organizations, among many other artifacts. These items are not often used and could be archived in our proposed new addition in order to free valuable shelf space for more frequently researched and requested items.
Capital Campaign Committee
Sheri Bare, Linda Eberly, Drew Hostetter, Sue Hostetter, Brenda Kready, Dave Reist, Ned Sterling, Rod Wilbert, Don Zerphey