Historical Carnegie Building Renovation

by Vic Kinney, President and Curator, Heritage & Culture Center - August 2014

The old Spencer Carnegie Library, home of the Owen County Heritage & Culture Center (OCHCC), recently received a major facelift to the exterior of the building.

Some of the boards on the underside of the overhang and some of the gutter splashboards were rotten and had to be replaced. The splashboards were covered with aluminum panels which had been coated with baked on paint for protection. Some of the 40 windows, many of which have multiple panes, were reglazed and caulked where needed. All of the wood trim and window frames were painted as closely as possible to the original green color with exception to adding a light burgundy for contrast to the recessed areas of the overhang brackets.

The new guttering and down-spouts were installed by J.R. Richardson & Sons Seamless Guttering. All the repairs to the overhang, splashboards, and window frames were furnished by Mike Bruner Design and Construction. The painting was furnished by Johnson's Interior Restorations. The entire project was smoothly coordinated between the three contractors.

This project was made possible through two grants. The Efroymson Family Fund, a fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation, made a charitable contribution of $10,000. The grant was channeled through Indiana Landmarks. The second grant of $1,000 was contributed by the Bloomfield Rural Electric Member Co-op (REMC). Our organization feels very fortunate to have received these two grants. This project could not have been accomplished without them. We are very pleased with the final appearance of the exrterior project. The Center has already received many compliments of the building's partially restored appearance.

There are other projects in the planning such as tuckpointing and limestone cleaning, but they will have to wait until the funds are raised. This will take a while to accomplish. While grants are very helpful, the number of applicants during these difficult economic times makes them very competitive and hard to come by. We rely heavily on donations and contributions from the community. the Heritage & Culture Center is a 501c3 non profit educational organization governed, managed, and operated by a small group of volunteers. If you or your group are interested in helping the Heritage & Culture Center through funding these projects or helping with maintenance and operating costs, please write to us at P.O. Box 676, Spencer, IN 47460, call (812) 829-8870, or contact Vic Kinney.

We welcome everyone to visit our heritage museum (no admission fee) and our coffee and gift shop. The museum has a collection of photographs, artifacts, and displays that reflect the county's history. The coffee shoppe offers homemade baked goods, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. The gift shop offers a variety of crafts such as nice, but reasonably priced, hand-crafted jewelry, greeting cards (write your own message), wooden bowls, purses, very attractive custom designed women's aprons, and other items. The shop also sells prints of paintings by well-known local artist Ken Bucklew, books by local authors including James Alexander Thom and Dixie Kline Richardson, and local history publications including books and booklets about small towns of Owen County. The gift shop and coffee shoppe help with expenses and are managed by Madi (Goldberg) Arnett. It's a pleasant, warm place to visit and relax.

The museum is looking for old photographs and articles to make quality copies of and artifacts for short-term loans or donations. Please contact Vic Kinney, or OCHCC, P.O. Box 676, Spencer, IN 47460.

The Owen County Heritage & Culture Center is located in the old Spencer Carnegie Library on the southeast corner of the courthouse square at the intersection of Market and Washington streets (110 East Market Street).