DURANGO, Colo. – Every town has a heritage, but few embrace it as ardently as Durango and surrounding La Plata County. And keeping the proverbial flames of passion fanned is the Animas Museum, operated by the La Plata County Historical Society.

Located in a quiet residential neighborhood at 3065 W. 2^nd Ave., the Animas Museum has a nearly 35 year history itself, with a permanent collection of some 35,000 objects ranging from artifacts, historic photos, maps and more. It was established with a mission to collect, preserve and interpret the history and culture of the San Juan Basin, with a focus on La Plata County.

Part of the charm, and some may say, arguably, part of the frustration, is the Animas Museum’s physical structure. It is an old school house – a majestic, multi-story sandstone block building originally constructed in 1904-05. The stairs are bowed and the hardwood floors scuffed from the many children who attended school there until 1967. Over the next decade it had temporary uses by the Head Start program and as a county maintenance shop, then sadly fell into disrepair.

“It was in pretty horrible shape when we first started doing work here in 1978,” said Robert McDaniel, the museum’s director, who had been one of those children attending school in the building. “There was a grant program out there in the Jimmy Carter years that funded a lot of the early renovations that we did… The restorations have been on-going since that time. We’ve done the majority of it, but we still have some things to do.”

In recent years, the projects have gotten a bit ambitious – but they’ve been borne out of necessity. Last year, a five-year and $700,000 project to replace the roof was completed, an effort which has dovetailed into construction of a new home for the museum’s permanent collections – the “Home for History.”

The roof story actually has its own history as well, and begins back in 1919, when, following the school children’s Halloween party, the building caught fire.

“It practically destroyed the building,” said McDaniel, explaining that all the windows were broken, the roof completely burned and water damage was significant. “They didn’t tear the building down. They decided that they’d repair it, but when they did, they put a flat roof on the building.”

Supported by a-line trusses that over 80 years of exposure to weather were weakened, the roof had mounting structural issues. Though it wasn’t yet leaking, all were fearful a heavy snow would trigger collapse. As a result, staff and volunteers repeatedly had to shovel snow.

“So we devised this project to reconstruct the original roof,” said McDaniel, referencing the pitched roof, including a bell tower. “A big reason we were able to sell the project was that we created a whole new floor of space under the new roof.”

Native American artifacts are a key component of the Animas Museum's permanent collections.

And it’s space that is desperately needed by the museum. As part of the roofing project, a new storage room was built in the basement, which currently houses the over-flow of the main collections. The conditions are less than ideal, however. The new “home” is much anticipated.

 To cost some $300,000-plus, the new “Home for History” will include a space-saver storage system, similar to one used at the Center for Southwest Studies. Instead of permanent shelving, including multiple aisles, the shelving in the system is mobile.

“The beauty of it is that you have only one aisle at a time,” said McDaniel, of the shelving that operates much like opening and closing pages of a book. “It’s a much more efficient way to use space.”

Hope is to also raise enough money to purchase individual, conservation-approved storage cabinets. It’s been a slow process, but the museum is transitioning everything to conservation-safe storage – which initially wasn’t affordable to the fledgling organization. Floor covering for the “new” third floor is also part of the project. Once the space is ready, simply moving the collections from the basement to the new storage could take upwards of a year.

“I think when it is all said and done, it’ll be about a two-year project,” said McDaniel. “We applied for a grant to pay for the first $250,000 of it, which we will find out about in the spring, and in the meantime we’re doing the fundraising we have to do to match that.”

Already underway is the cataloging process for each artifact. Very labor-intensive, and done primarily by volunteers, the cataloging allows for relatively easy access to the collections – which is important given that a primary use of the Animas Museum is as a research facility.

“We receive in excess of 200 research requests a year,” said McDaniel. “And it’s everything from genealogy requests to copies of historic photos to (information for) research projects or people writing books. A little bit of everything.”

Once the permanent collections move to their new “home,” the basement will be converted to the Animas Museums new “Generations Research Center.” According to McDaniel, it will become more formalized and take on a greater prominence in the museum.

Animas Museum Director Robert McDaniel takes a moment to sit in the restored classroom.

But even as it grows and evolves, the Animas Museum will forever be identified for the restored classroom – a permanent exhibit reminiscent of school rooms in the early part of the 20^th Century. To remind children of the “olden days” of education, the museum conducts special programs for area youth. As the museum’s web site notes, “The high ceilings, large double-hung windows, school-house lights, slate blackboards and ornate desks all speak to a different era in education.”

The permanent collections continue to be enhanced with donations from throughout the country, for which McDaniel is grateful, as the museum’s annual budget doesn’t allow for purchases. The operating budget is a lean $146,000, and a budding endowment fund provides hope for on-going funding in the future.

The La Plata County Historical Society board of directors overseeing the museum includes, Mary Jane Hood, president; Kathy McEwen, vice president; Kathy Myrick, secretary; Bruce Spining, treasurer, Paula Berg, Elizabeth Green, Sharon Hubbs, Duane Smith and Marilee White.

The Animas Museum’s winter hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in summer), and admission is $3. Visit www.animasmuseum.org for additional information.

indiana@durangodowntown.com

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Support the Animas Museum by joining the La Plata County Historical Society. Benefits include free admission to the museum, gift shop discounts, newsletter subscription and invitations to special events. Make checks payable to the La Plata County Historical Societh (LPCHS) and send to:  LPCHS * PO Box 3384 * Durango, CO 81302