Keweenaw NHP to hold public meeting on Union Building exhibit design July 8

CALUMET -- Keweenaw National Historical Park (Keweenaw NHP) and the Office of Krister Olmon, Inc., will host a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, to present the status of the exhibit design for the historic Union Building in Calumet. The meeting will be held at park headquarters, located at 25970 Red Jacket Road, Calumet.

The historic Union Building in Calumet, located across from the Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's, is the subject of a public meeting on exhibit planning to be held July 8 at Keweenaw National Historical Park headquarters. (National Park Service photo by Dan Johnson, courtesy Keweenaw National Historical Park)

At this point in the exhibit planning process, people will be able to look at detailed floor plans, view a three-dimensional model of the exhibit area, see some elevation drawings of exhibit features and read descriptions of exhibits that will include proposed objects for display and the topics the exhibit text will cover. Attendees to the meeting will have the opportunity to provide feedback to park staff and the exhibit designer.

The National Park Service purchased the historic Union Building in Calumet in 1999 with the long-range goal of making it a visitor interpretive facility. Keweenaw National Historical Park completed the first phase of the building’s rehabilitation by stabilizing its exterior in 2005. In 2008, the park received funding to begin planning the interior portion of the project.

In July 2008, the Office of Krister Olmon, Inc., (OKO) was selected as the project’s exhibit planning and design contractor from the National Park Service (NPS) indefinite quantities contract. A preliminary exhibit planning meeting was held in August 2008 involving NPS staff, the exhibit contractor and several of the park’s partners. Taking the information gathered from the preliminary meeting, Krister Olmon developed and presented three preliminary exhibit schemes in October 2008.

After receiving input from the public through public meetings and focus groups, park staff selected one scheme for refinement and further development.

In January 2009, NPS and Krister Olmon hosted a roundtable of prominent historians with expertise in the different areas of immigration, mining communities, labor history, fraternal organizations and local history to review the selected exhibit scheme and concepts. The Office of Krister Olmon has taken the wide variety of input received andused it to further develop the exhibit plan. While an overall approach to the exhibit has been selected, the content of the exhibit, including objects displayed and text, will continue to evolve through the planning process.

If the park receives funding for the implementation phase of the project, the actual interior construction and exhibit fabrication work can begin. This historic building will then be able to open its doors to the public. Both visitors to the area and local residents will have a place to reflect on the connection between Keweenaw mining companies, communities and people, and on their role in our nation’s history.

For more information, including directions to the public meeting, please call Keweenaw National Historical Park at (906) 337-3168. More information about the Union Building project is available on the Keweenaw NHP Web site.