WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON STABILIZING THE BOVINA MUSEUM BUILDING!
WE NEED TO RAISE $28,500 TO MATCH OUR GRANT!
IF YOU CAN DONATE PLEASE DO SO HERE! Thank you!
The Bovina Historical Society has received a grant from the O’Connor Foundation for $28,500 to go towards the work needed to stabilize the Bovina Museum building. The Bovina Museum has been closed to the public since 2016 due to issues with the foundation. The historical society discovered powder beetles had weakened the floor joists and the foundation walls were in poor condition. The society hired an engineer to develop plans for addressing the foundation and floor joists. The work will include installing a beam and column across the joists and pouring a new concrete foundation wall.
The cost of the work will be $57,000. The BHS will need to raise funds to match the grant from the O’Connor Foundation. The goal is to have this project completed before the summer of 2022, when Bovina will be holding its belated Bicentennial Celebration.
The Bovina Museum building dates from the 1850s when it served as a tinsmith’s shop. In 1910, J.W. Coulter offered the wing of this building to serve as a library. At his death in 1917, he bequeathed the entire building to the recently chartered Bovina Public Library, along with funds to convert the shop into a library. The library was there until 1970 when it moved to what was the Bovina District 4 School on Maple Avenue. The old library building was turned over to the Bovina Historical Society in 1975 and in 1978 was opened as the Bovina Museum. It has been closed for five years now. The BHS is anxious to see it open again to Bovina residents and visitors so they can see artifacts important to the history of the town.
Please help us preserve this important part of Bovina’s history.