LUMBER MUSEUM MAKEOVER DETAILS
By Travis Moshier Endeavor News

When renovations are complete, a trip to the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum in central Potter County will be a new experience to even its most frequent visitors.

The state has released $5.4 million to improve the museum and plans are already in the making. Delores Buchsen, site administrator, said that once the design is complete, a bid package will be put together and advertised.

Buchsen doesn't have a timetable for construction, but she does know interested viewers will get a new experience.

Some $3.7 million will go toward expanding and renovating the visitors center. There will not be a new visitors center building, as had been rumored, she added.

One of the main additions to the building will be an entrance at the parking lot level. Currently stairs and a long access ramp are the only ways into the center. Once inside, either an elevator or a ramp will aid visitors in entering the facility, which will be getting a program room and commercially certified kitchen.

The room will open the building for business and organization meetings which could include guided tours or first-person interpretations, Buchsen said.

In the center's current state, if the volunteers want to host a program they have to remove and store exhibits.

Another $1 million will go toward new exhibits, including informational kiosks and other engaging displays. Details have not yet been determined.

A consulting firm has been given a story line and is working on the new exhibits, Buchsen said.

An area for temporary exhibits will also be established, adding variety to the museum. Number of visitors, which reached 16,000 annually, has been on the decline lately, a trend Buchsen attributed in part to economics and rising fuel prices.

"Most people in the area have been to the museum and seen the exhibits a few times," Buchsen said.

Those people and more will be able to enjoy the new facility, doubling the current numbers, she expects.