After being closed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Historic Erlanger Depot Museum will be transformed and revitalized under a plan announced by Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette.
Plans include offering rotating exhibits, enhancing the museum’s interior with new paint, offering a community space and increasing accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“The goal is to showcase Erlanger’s rich history in a fresh and inviting environment while creating a greatly needed community space,” Mayor Fette said.
The opening date has yet to be determined and will be announced with a grand re-opening event in the future.
With life starting to return to some sense of normalcy, the museum and the history it contains and honors has been identified as an opportunity for excellence in the City of Erlanger, Mayor Fette added.
“Since last October, this administration has been developing a plan to revitalize and transform the museum space,” she said. “We are finally able to start moving on these plans.”
Plans for museum include:
• Sort the inventory and break it out into collections.
• Create monthly collections so that not all inventory is on display at the same time.
• Engage with community partners to borrow collections from other museums, such as bringing a collection from the Behringer Crawford Museum to Erlanger.
• Enhance the interior design by painting the walls and trim.
• Reframe selected art pieces to reduce clutter and to share some of the art with other facilities, such as the city building.
• Transform the back room into a community space that can be rented by individuals and community groups and eventually open it to the public.
• Add a countertop and cabinetry with a sink for a beverage and snack area.
• Evaluate and improve infrastructure to ensure ADA compliance.
• Improve the lighting in the community space as well as enhance security.
• Properly preserve the city’s history through display cases featuring armed forces uniforms and other artifacts.
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Mayor Fette said funds from the next fiscal year budget will be requested to make some of the improvements.
City of Erlanger
