Howard Steamboat Museum passes $1M goal

Clark County

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February 8, 2010

Renovations to start in late spring

STAFF REPORTS The News and Tribune Mon Feb 08, 2010, 09:25 PM EST

Jeffersonville’s Howard Steamboat Museum completed a two-year-long, first-ever capital campaign eclipsing its $1 million goal by more than $50,000.

The fundraising drive included an “all-or-nothing” match of $500,000 from The Paul Ogle Foundation Inc., which meant the museum had to raise its half-million dollars by Dec. 31 or lose the foundation’s pledge, a press release from the museum says. In the past 18 months, more than 200 donors in the community gave to the cause.

“Ogle’s $500,000 initial commitment clearly launched our fundraising efforts in a dramatic way,” said David Reinhardt, 2009 museum board president said in the release.

The campaign was created to address long-standing serious infrastructure needs for the 115-year old Victorian mansion and other structures on the museum grounds. Major priorities are:

• Adding a state-of-the-art fire detection and suppression system;

• A zoned climate-control system to provide central air and heat throughout the three-story mansion;

• Energy-efficient renovations and repairs;

• Stabilizing the laundry house;

• Acquiring storage space for artifacts; and

• A multitude of small projects.

The renovation process will begin immediately with the completion of specific plans and authorizing the work. By late spring, actual repairs will be under way and completion could take until December 2011 or slightly longer, the release says. The staff plans to keep the museum open to the public during renovations, said new board President Rick Madden.

“We wish to extend to each and every single donor a world of thanks for this philanthropic support,” said Museum Administrator Yvonne Knight in the release. “Corporate donors in Southern Indiana, Louisville, local businesses, area foundations and our Howard Steamboat Museum members collectively deserve all the credit for this overwhelming success.”