The Lucas County Historical Society is most grateful today for a $10,000 grant awarded by the South Central Iowa Community Foundation and presented during a late-afternoon program yesterday at the Chariton Community Center.
The grant was among more than a dozen awarded to Lucas County non-profits, totaling about $110,000.
The society plans to use the grant as well as a similar amount from reserve funds to refurbish the exterior of the John L. Lewis Building (above), built in stages between 1976 and 2002 and the largest structure on the seven-building campus. It contains four large galleries --- Vredenburg, Crist, Mining & Business and Swanson --- as well as the Perkins Room (entrance and gathering area), library, offices and restrooms.
The building's exterior cladding and trim need paint, but the siding --- some of it nearly 50 years old and of a type no longer in common use --- has deteriorated to the point that it makes more sense to replace rather than repaint it.
The most excellent John L. Lewis Museum of Mining & Labor at Lucas received a grant, too, to be applied toward repainting the exterior of its building. So it looks like we're all sprucing up this spring.
As of May 1, the Lucas County Historical Society Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and at other times by appointment. Admission is free, but of course donations are appreciated.
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