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HC Museum board member provides update on renovations

NEW CUMBERLAND — The Hancock County Museum received some help this year as it gets ready for renovation work, and also discussed other events that took place this year during the Hancock County Commission meeting on Thursday.

Museum board member Bob McNeil provided the commission with an update on the museum’s latest developments, including its renovation efforts, to which the museum has spent $75,000 for work below the roofline around the building.

While thanking the commission for their support, McNeil said that about 40 percent of the work has been completed, to which the funds came from a grant through the Pugliese Family Foundation in Wintersville. That grant was initially a $25,000 grant that included matching funds, but McNeil explained that another bidder for the grant went higher.

“It was a $25,000 grant that we had to match,” McNeil said. “Unfortunately the bid came in at $75,000, so it ate into our reserves of our trust fund. With that in mind, we continue to thank the commission of the way they’ve supported us. This helps us pay our monthly bills throughout the year.”

McNeil also said that within the past two weeks, work was done on two of their chimneys at a cost of $6,000 after it was found to be in bad shape and in the process of falling down.

On the other hand, McNeil said that the museum has been able to continue its work to success, among of which included its annual car show, and upgrades to its military room and the additions of several vintage uniforms and other clothing, most of which were donated or loaned through county residents.

“It’s amazing how many people in this county have uniforms going back to the Civil War, and right on up through today,” McNeil said.

McNeil said that because of the need to keep the clothes and uniforms in the right condition, the museum reinvested in storage for those clothes.

Closing out the year, McNeil said the museum held its annual Edgar Allen Poe readings, which he stated were at standing-room only capacity this year, and have just completed decorating for Christmas.

McNeil, however, said that the museum will not have a Christmas event this year, but will open the house during parade night and will have some of the volunteers dress up and wave at the parade.

Meanwhile, the commission approved two monetary requests, one each from the Top of West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Business Development Corporation (BDC) of the Northern Panhandle.

Requested by CVB executive director Dan Greathouse, the donation by the commission was for $5,000 for financial support towards the 2018 Wheeling Symphony performance, held during the summer as part of the city’s concert season.

In a letter submitted to the commission, the Community Foundation of the Ohio Valley has previous handled fundraising for the event, but will not be doing so for 2018.

Commissioner Joe Barnabei said that the commission has donated towards the symphony performance in previous years, which reportedly cost around $25,000 to handle.

In relation to the BDC, that involved a resolution that recognized and supported the BDC as the lead economic developer, and also approved a pledge of $34,500 towards a grant from the West Virginia Development Office for its LED grant.

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