SANDPOINT — Around 40 people turned out to give positive feedback to the Bonner County Historical Society on its planned museum addition.

Hannah Combs, BCHS’ executive director, said she was happy with the public’s participation and noted that around a fourth of the attendees were non-members. Combs said it was surprising how aware the majority of the public was of the museum's current storage and space issues. 

“We are at capacity,” Combs said. “I had assumed that wouldn’t necessarily be top of mind for people... so that was great to have a lot of feedback in support of needing more space for our collection.” 

The current plan is still in its two-dimensional phase while BCHS receives feedback from the public and city commissions. Combs said there was no pushback for the proposed plan at Monday’s open house, but that she is always thinking of ways to adjust the floor plan. 

The planned addition would see the building expand by 2,000 square feet, stretching out to where the caboose sits. The new space would bring with it a lobby, dedicated gift shop and most notably two 272-sqaure-foot community rooms, which can be combined into one space, for museum events. 

"It will be an ongoing conversation until we get to the design phase, but we feel pretty good about the general square footage that needs to be added to the facility,” Combs said. “We had the pie in the sky conversation that resulted in ‘We want a 6,000-square-foot addition’ and we have pruned that back to be only what is necessary.” 

Multiple attendees said they were excited about the prospect of the community rooms providing a place for historical society’s monthly presentations by members. Attendees also gave feedback on the safety of the proposed kid’s play area, which currently faces the parking lot.  

BCHS is planning for the addition thanks to a $1 million anonymous donation. The organization also received an increase in their allotment from Bonner County, which will go toward better preserving the collection. 

Combs said the museum is facing around $200,000 to $230,000 in immediate repairs, with the roof being the most pressing issue. 

“Ideally we would be able to redo the roof in tandem with the new addition, so there isn’t work that needs to be undone and redone,” Combs said. “It’s a timing game at this point to figure out how long we can keep patching the roof without it being at an even more serious risk.” 

In the plan, most of the exhibit areas would remain largely unchanged. There would be an area added to help the museum's volunteers with accession, intaking, and cataloging new items into the collection. 

Combs said BCHS currently has around 200 to 300 items, and around 70% of its archives need proper cataloging. According to the plan, the second phase would see the current building be remodeled to expand storage for the museum’s current and future collections by 50%.   

Before moving forward with any changes to the plan, Combs said BCHS will be hosting more focus groups to receive community feedback. The plan will also need to be approved by the Sandpoint City Council before any construction begins. 

Currently, BCHS and Sandpoint are negotiating the museum's lease agreement, and Combs said the lease is a top priority for her. The addition will not move forward without a lease agreement in place, according to Combs. 

"Securing our lease is the first step to being able to move forward with this at all,” Combs said. “We certainly want to work with all the city commissions to make sure this fits into their view of the park.” 

Residents can provide feedback and get more information on the BCHS’ plan at bonnercountyhistory.org/expansion-plans.