Follow the Progress …
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Overview of the Project
This is an exciting time at the Matilda Joslyn Gage Home! Under the direction of Leo Construction & Development, Phase 2 of the comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation of the home is nearly complete. Construction crews went to work immediately after the August 26 groundbreaking, and the structure has been transforming steadily ever since. Things are happening so quickly at the Gage Home that we hardly have time to catch our breath. If you’ve driven by 210 East Genesee lately, you know what we mean.
A few months ago we had a flat expanse of grass where today the Ruth Putter Welcome Center stands, with its cedar shake roof, green siding, and wheelchair lift all in place. The interior walls throughout the Gage Home have been repaired and are being painted. Hickory flooring has been approved for the oldest part of the house. The east bay window has been rebuilt in the exact spot that it appears in the 1887 photo taken by L. Frank Baum. New sidewalks have been poured, and the mechanical trades (electrical, plumbing and heating) have been hard at work installing systems that will bring the building up to the new building code regulations. We uncovered more historic wallpaper from the Gage era and even pre-Gage occupation of the house.
On Dec. 31, the Gage Foundation reached its goal of raising $1 million for the purchase and restoration/rehabilitation of the Gage Home. To meet the deadline set to secure matching funds from the state, the final $300,000 had to be raised in just nine months, a daunting task for our small organization in these economic times. But supporters across the country stepped forward, checks in hand, and met the demanding deadline.
The Gage Home is being preserved, this important building where so much history was made. Now we have a shell, a potential, a place where things can happen.
And we have a vision: this will not be one more dusty museum, not one more house of artifacts but a house of engagement, a place where the stirring conversations over the direction of the country that echoed from its walls 100 years ago take place again today.
This vision now must be translated into exhibits and programs. To that end, a group of donors we call the Magnificent Seven have given us a total of $14,000 to launch the BRING THE DREAM HOME: Sharing Matilda’s Inspirational Vision Campaign.
We estimate state-of-the art exhibits and programs will cost about $300,000. Our new goal is to raise this amount in nine months, so we can have exhibits and programs in place for the Grand Opening of the Gage Home on October 8-10, 2010. We hope you can join us that weekend!
See press release on groundbreaking here: groundbreaking82609
