Heritage Center in Springfield to close for month

Champaign County museum will also close the month of January.
The staff at the Clark County Historical Society walks through the military gallery in the Clark County Heritage Center museum Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 as they plan how they're going to remove some of the items from display cases so the fire suppression system can be undated while the museum is closed in January. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

The staff at the Clark County Historical Society walks through the military gallery in the Clark County Heritage Center museum Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 as they plan how they're going to remove some of the items from display cases so the fire suppression system can be undated while the museum is closed in January. BILL LACKEY/STAFF
News
By
Jan 1, 2024
X

The Clark County Heritage Center in Springfield will close the month of January for general gallery maintenance and cleaning, the second straight year for the closure to make improvements.

“It’s easier for us to be closed. We decided last year worked well and we’d do it again this year,” said Natalie Fritz, archivist and outreach director. “It’s good to (close) and spend the weeks focusing on that.”

The staff at the Clark County Historical Society walks through the military gallery in the Clark County Heritage Center museum Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 as they plan how they're going to remove some of the items from display cases so the fire suppression system can be undated while the museum is closed in January. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

icon to expand image

Credit: Bill Lackey

The Heritage Center, which had closed for the first time last January for other housekeeping projects, will close to get into cases that have to be open a little longer for bigger projects and cleanings, Fritz said. The museum will reopen in February.

“We’ll be moving items out of second-floor cases for maintenance work that’s being done in (the) military gallery,” she said. “There may be some changes people notice when we open, including new items on display and additional text. We hope to reinstall our ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ case in a new location early in 2024.”

Miranda Taylor, Collections Assistant at the Clark County Historical Society, talks about the new larger shelving that the Society purchased with grant money Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. The Historical Society will be closed along with the museum in January to update some exhibits and organizing the collections on the new shelves. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

icon to expand image

Credit: Bill Lackey

This year, the center has a Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant funded project for $32,500 in the collections area, in mostly the textile collections, for new shelving units, new oversized storage boxes and an intern from Wright State University to help with the rehousing project.

“The grant helped to better store the stuff that we have,” Fritz said.

The center has had more than 10,000 visitors this year, compared to just under 10,000 last year and about 5,000 in 2021 amid the pandemic. They also track county versus non-county visitors when they sign in, and visitors range from about 15% to 20% coming from outside Clark County.

ExploreWittenberg’s summer writing program receives grant

The Champaign County Historical Museum will also be closed the month of January, reopening on Jan. 28.

“We are currently closed to allow us to move the workspace, which is currently downstairs in our main gallery, upstairs. There were exhibits upstairs that we are moving downstairs,” said museum director Cheryl Ogden.

Ogden said they are doing this to add a bigger meeting room space and additional exhibit space for an industrial and agricultural exhibit in the spring.

These projects are being paid for by donations from the public and a grant from the State of Ohio.

In 2023, the museum had more than 1,800 people visit, compared to 1,500 in 2022 and 1,100 in 2021.

Ogden said some museums or centers close in January due to that month having a lower volume of visitors.

ExploreClark County library to offer new writing program featuring local authors
In Other News
1
Rue: Springfield will follow immigration law; Moreno, Trump send mixed...
2
10 Springfield ‘transplant heroes’ honored at annual Mayor’s Breakfast
3
Tecumseh schools’ vote to arm staff delayed to January; issue surprises...
4
No injuries reported in German Twp. fire
5
Haitian Community Alliance, NDL radio promoting reading at Saturday...

About the Author

Follow Brooke Spurlock on facebookFollow Brooke Spurlock on twitter

Brooke Spurlock covers education, crime and more in Clark and Champaign counties as a reporter for the Springfield News-Sun. She has been a writer for over six years, which includes her previous work as a breaking news desk investigator. Spurlock has her bachelor's in mass communications with a minor in psychology and her associates in paralegal.