MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) - The old Muscatine County Jail has sat uninhabited and unused since the day it closed in 1996. The Muscatine County Historic Preservation Commission wants to bring new life into the old building.
Last week, the commission received a $9,600 grant from the Cultural Affairs for the State of Iowa. With this grant, the commission plans to start the renovation process for the 164-year-old building.
“We applied for that grant to do plans and specifications for the old jail, which was built in 1857,” Chairperson Bill Koellner told the Muscatine Journal. “The idea is to refurbish the inside. It’s a wonderful, old facility.”
Despite its age, the building has remained stable for well over a century, with the outside in pristine condition; it continues to be a historic site for the city of Muscatine. The building has gone from jail to briefly being an office and a storage facility.
The county jail is on the National Historic Register, but many of its records and historical items are stored in different places, making it difficult to track them down.
“We believe that for the public to see these records and historical materials, if someone’s doing historical research or ancestry research, they should be made more easily available rather than being in boxes in the basement,” Koellner said.
The commission considered the location of the jail to be perfect for a museum. “There’s parking there, it has an excellent location being in the center part of town, it has heating and cooling already made for it, it’s one of the older buildings in Muscatine, and finally, we want to see it be used instead of just sitting there,” Koellner said.
While the $9,600 is a good start, the commission applied for additional funds through the state’s Rural Revitalization Grant for the next phase and put their plans for a Muscatine County-focused museum inside the jail building into action.
“It needs to have some handicap accessibility, and of course it needs a new restroom on the inside,” Koellner said, “We would also try to preserve what portion of the old jail there still was. There’s very few cracks in the walls, and the geo-thermal that’s there serves a great purpose.”
If the grant is approved, the Commission will not only receive $125,000, but Muscatine County will also contribute an additional $53,000. With these amounts combined, Koellner said that he believes it would likely be enough to cover the costs of any repairs or additions needed.
“Now, at $125,000, it’s a competitive grant,” he added, “We don’t know whether we’ll get it or not.” Currently, the commission considering possible alternatives, such as private donations, if they are denied the grant, though nothing has been decided yet.
Koellner said although the commission is working to make it happen, it would be up to another group, like a friends group, to run the museum with the county.
The commission has other projects they are working on in the meantime, including the Fairport Fish Hatchery, St. Mary’s Church in Nichols, the Ben Nichols house, and their studies on one-room country schools and churches in Muscatine County and historic neighborhoods in West Liberty and Wilton. “We’ve got a lot coming up in 2021.”
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