Communitywide project finds new
home in municipal complex
Story by Eryn Ellard
Submitted Photos
When the doors opened six years ago to a Museum on Main Street exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution and Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Pell City and St. Clair County community didn’t know quite what to expect.
The Smithsonian component, The Way We Worked, was intriguing and compelling and drew an inquiring audience. But it was the local exhibit, Pell City Works, that pulled it all together to form a vision that is now becoming reality.
exhibit section
In coming months, Pell City will have its own historical museum – Museum of Pell City – featuring the original Pell City Works exhibit, the Making Alabama bicentennial exhibit and countless other features and additions all under one roof in a 4,000-square-foot suite at the Pell City Municipal Complex.
The Way We Worked and Pell City Works debuted in 2014 and drew over 7,000 visitors from multiple states during its first five weeks of exhibition. The primary focus of the professionally designed Pell City Works exhibit was on the city’s local history and how Pell City came of its unique footing. It tells a story of growth, family and hard work through photographs, stories and local artifacts.
After seeing its popularity and success, project co-chairs at the time – Pam Foote, Deanna Lawley and Carol Pappas – began to research ways that it would eventually become more permanent or perhaps grow into something even more special for the community. The exhibit was preserved intact and stored in the basement of the Municipal Complex while they worked off and on over the years trying to find and fund a permanent home.
That grassroots movement evolved into a partnership with the Heart of Pell City, a local nonprofit, and the city council. The effort has led to the founding by Foote, Lawley and Pappas of a separate nonprofit dedicated solely to the museum and its operation in the future.
Fundraising so far is over the $15,000 mark with a goal of $100,000 initially. The city is providing the 4,000-square-foot suite as a permanent home for the museum, and the Making Alabama exhibit, worth about $100,000, has been awarded to the group as a permanent exhibit. Pell City is one of only five communities in the state to be so honored.
Making Alabama focuses on the 200-year history of the state, its working class, families and complexities of its heritage. Making Alabama will be the perfect complement to Pell City Works, valued at more than $40,000, and is a project that organizers are proud to make a part of the community permanently, Pappas said.
“These will be an ideal centerpiece for the museum – the making of Pell City and the making of Alabama together under one roof,” Pappas said. “We have been waiting on this moment for a long time.”
“Every year that passes, more history is lost about our town, especially the years before the lake and I-20 so drastically changed it,” Lawley explained. The local exhibit from 2014 generated all kinds of interest in those early years. “Emphasis was put on the primary industry, Avondale Mills. People would stay for hours looking at pictures, often shedding tears or laughter.”
Without such a movement for a museum to preserve and protect those moments in history, “there will soon be just a void as those who experienced them leave this earth,” she said.
Foote, who served as the actual project manager, agreed. “There were so many people who thanked us for telling ‘their’ history. They had a father, a brother, an aunt who worked at the mill. They grew up in the mill village. Everyone seemed to connect.”
Even though upwards of 7,000 people saw the exhibit, “others to this day come up to me and tell me they were so sorry they missed it – that they had heard about it and wished they could see it now. Now, they can.”
The museum space has been prepared by the city, and museum organizers are preparing to open within the year. The new museum is being designed by Jeremy Gossett, a professional designer who helped create the Pell City Works exhibit, as well as others across the state. The museum showcases a hearty collection of local and state historical exhibits, as well as interactive learning tools for students and history buffs of all ages.
“Traveling exhibits and cultural programming also are part of the vision for this new museum, engaging audiences from near and far,” Pappas said.
Pell City Manager Brian Muenger said the space above the library is the perfect home for the new exhibit – thanks to its open concept and three separate offices, and he is excited to see the project come to fruition.
“My hope is that the museum will become a bridge between generations and a means for newcomers to Pell City to gain an appreciation for the fascinating history of how the city was formed, has grown and how it has evolved,” Muenger said. “The preservation and presentation of this information, specifically to the youth of the community, will ensure that the contributions of the generations before are not soon forgotten.”
Pappas said the museum will feature a children’s area with STEM skills featured for students. Upon completion, the museum also could be a regional, multi-county field trip destination for fourth grade students learning about state history.
Planned is an oral history recording studio, which will help preserve the community’s history even more as the years go by. There is space for presentations, lectures and the showing of documentaries.
Its location above the Pell City Library, which features a genealogy section, enables a solid partnership between the two entities for joint programming and other projects.
Several unusual artifacts have already been donated to the project, including an 1890s player piano and a 1926 Victrola console in mint condition, both of which will be used to showcase state and local music history. In addition, the project will also be home to many traveling exhibits to keep the museum fresh and compelling for visitors for years to come, Pappas noted.
Fundraising efforts for the museum have been fruitful and many local businesses and citizens have donated time and money to the cause.
Urainah Glidewell, president of the Heart of Pell City, said the outpouring of support has been graciously received thus far, and there are many opportunities to get involved along the way. For instance, any business or person wishing to donate $100 or more will be recognized as a founding member of the museum, known as Museum 100.
“Plans are to have a donors wall to honor those who helped make the museum a reality,” Glidewell said. “Of course, once the museum is open, we will continue to need donations for operating costs, bringing in new exhibits, etc. As of now, the plan is to have free admission for visitors, but donations will always be welcome.”
“We are so excited that this dream is finally coming to fruition,” Pappas said. “We’ve had a lot of help along the way, and we’ll continue to need that support. But the end result is going to be an impressive museum that preserves, honors and treasures our history. This is truly a community effort and will benefit generations to come.”
Editor’s Note: To donate or volunteer or simply to learn more, go to museumofpellcity.org or follow on Facebook, at museumofpellcity.
