The Northfield Historical Society is excited to announce that it has been named a $200,642 grant recipient for the Minnesota Historical Society’s Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant Program. The grant will help fund the installation of an elevator in downtown Northfield’s Scriver Building that has housed the society’s exhibit, collection, research, and program spaces since 1975.
NHS Executive Director Hayes Scriven says the grant provides a big boost to the society’s current capital campaign, “Taking Northfield History to the Next Level,” that when completed will improve accessibility for Scriver’s 10,000 annual visitors by adding an elevator and six restrooms.
“Scriver has served us well, but it’s time to make better use of our space — and make it more comfortable for more people,” Scriven says. The elevator, installed behind the stair tower along the building’s west wall, will connect the structure’s basement and upper two stories. It will replace a steep, narrow flight of stairs that currently is the only route to the basement.
NHS’s “Next Level” campaign is the first stage of a multi-phase project that also will add on-grade access from Bridge Square, ADA-compliant restrooms, increase office space on the second floor, and restore the building’s facade to its 19th-century appearance. “We are still in need of support to finish the campaign” says Debby Larsen, NHS board president. “To accomplish our goal we still need to raise $400,000.”
The limestone building was built by Hiram Scriver, one of Northfield’s earliest merchants, in 1868. It has since housed more than 50 local businesses, including the First National Bank that the infamous James-Younger Gang attempted to rob in 1876.
Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grants are made possible by the Minnesota Legislature from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with passage of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution in 2008. The grants are awarded to support projects “of enduring value for the cause of history and historic preservation across the state.” MHS will award a total of $6.75 million in Historical Cultural Heritage Grants to nonprofit and educational organizations, government units, and tribes during the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years.
Read how the $3 million in MHS grants was distributed across the state in the Star Tribune.
