NORWICH – More county funding is on the way to cover cost overruns at the James S. Flanagan History Research Center on 43 Rexford St. in Norwich.
Representatives from the Chenango County Historical Society and the county historian’s office say about $13,800 more is needed to build a handicap accessible ramp between the research center and the adjacent CCHS Museum. The money would also be used to purchase storage racks and furnishings for a library room, the historian’s office and a space for the public.
The ramp and concrete work would fulfill the requirements to obtain a certificate of occupancy, enabling Historian Patricia Evans to begin the enormous task of moving the county’s archives from the basement of the museum in the former ward school to the new new center’s first floor.
Chenango County has already committed $100,000 to the estimated $850,000 multi-year project. Funding has also come from private contributions and foundations. Board of Supervisors Chairman Lawrence Wilcox, R-Oxford, has backed the request, saying, “Ideally this wouldn’t have happened, but cost overruns happen ... especially when you have a four-year building project ... planned 10 or more years out.” Members of the county’s Planning and Economic Development Committee also approved. The matter is scheduled to be taken up by the Finance Committee next week.
The construction of the research center, which is now 99 percent complete, and subsequent relocation of county and CCHS archives will free up space to make interior renovations for the museum’s growing exhibits. The idea to separate the two entities, and make more room for both, began 10 years ago with a proposed $3 million building addition to the former ward school. The plan went far beyond the fiscal means of the agency and the county, CCHS Director Alan Estus has said, and further planning led to the purchase and rehabilitation of a two-story vacant home adjacent to the museum.
The new facility is also missing an elevator, which is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $80,000.
In addition to freeing up space at the museum, a key benefit in having the research center will be the availability of combined archives, explained Estus. The archives will be intermingled, but labeled separately.
“We are working toward archiving all materials and making them available from one accessible collection. You are never going to find all that’s available about Chenango County and its inhabitants on the Internet. We have so much more that’s not out there,” he said.
Referring to Estus and Evans, Planning and Economic Development Committee Chairman David C. Law, R-Norwich, said, “These two people need a world of accolades for the cooperation they’ve exemplified on this important project.”