Historic Everett building eyed for museum
Published 10:33 pm Thursday, May 29, 2008
EVERETT— Boosters hoping to find a new place to house Snohomish County’s history are close to signing a deal to move into the Carnegie Building in downtown Everett.
Negotiations are under way to lease the 103-year-old building to the Museum of Snohomish County History.
“It’s perfect,” said Peter Harvey, museum board president. “It’s a beautiful, historic building centrally located in downtown Everett with plenty of parking.”
If they can close a deal, the museum will be able to pull its collection out of boxes and someday put it on display for the public.
First, millions of dollars in upgrades might be required for the building. A study, now out of date, showed that the building needed more than $3 million in work to reinforce it against earthquakes. The county is updating figures.
“It’s not going to be cheap,” Harvey said.
To make way for the history museum, the county moved out of the building a month ago. The building started as a library, was later a mortuary and has been owned by the county since about 1980.
The roof of the building is leaking badly and paint is peeling, county facilities director Mark Thunberg said. Once a $200,000 roof repair project is completed this summer, the Museum of Snohomish County History plans to move some of its 25,000-item collection into the building for storage.
The county also is seeking another $833,000 grant for upgrades to the building.
County Councilman Brian Sullivan is pushing hard for the museum. He wants to set aside county and private money in an endowment fund to keep the building in shape.
“The Carnegie Building has huge cultural and historic significance,” Sullivan said. “There are only a couple hundred left. Unfortunately, we found that the Carnegie Building has been imploding and not maintained by the county for a few years.”
Sullivan said he has an affinity for history. As a teenager, he worked during summers for his great-aunt at her World Museum of Mining in Butte, Mont.
“We’ll never sell this building,” Sullivan said. “It’s always a county asset and should have funds in place. I think the county government should be waiting in the wings to make sure that the building never falls apart.”
The museum has to take a strong lead though, he said.
“I really want them out fundraising and working to pull together their ability to try to raise money,” Sullivan said.
Museum supporters plan to launch a capital fundraising campaign for the building in the fall, Harvey said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
