Baudette Depot receives renovation grant

The Depot Preservation Alliance recently received a grant award in the amount of $10,000 from CN in support of the “Stage Two Exhibit Planning – The Story of Transportation, CN, and Settlement in the Lake of the Woods Area on Minnesota’s Canadian Border” project.
As our regular readers know, the Baudette Depot is undergoing a multi-reuse renovation project which includes an exhibit in the former stationmaster’s office which will tell “The Story of Transportation, CN, and Settlement in the Lake of the Woods Area on Minnesota’s Canadian Border.” The exhibit project is a requirement of the major funding source for the renovation – a federal highway transportation history network grant awarded by the Minnesota Historical Society and administered by MnDOT. A “grand re-opening” of the Baudette Depot will be held later this fall, with the exhibit project completion proposed for spring, 2012.
The Depot Preservation Alliance issued a “request for proposal” in the fall of 2009 to various historical preservation consultants. After review of the proposals, Venture Exhibits (Allen Noska and Carnita Tuomela) of Duluth, MN, was selected to conduct the planning and exhibit design. Community input was invited as the exhibit concept was developed. The planning process was divided into two phases, with the first phase funded primarily by a Legacy Amendment grant. Phase One was completed late summer, 2010, with a public presentation at the depot, a preliminary model, and preliminary storyboards – both of which were displayed at the Baudette Library as part of the “Great Fire of 1910 Commemoration” in October, 2010.
A grant proposal was submitted to CN in March, 2011, requesting funding for the Stage Two Exhibit Planning. The project is planned to include preservation and display of CN artifacts, historical documents, and various other memorabilia in a self-guided interpretive exhibit highlighting the role of transportation, and specifically of the CN railroad, in the settlement of this north border country. Stage Two will complete the research, acquire the images, organize and group the images for panels, and write text, while incorporating CN artifacts in a series of 15 planned interpretive panels. The exhibits project also includes two smaller components: a cultural heritage mural in the former “fine ladies waiting room” and an exterior “signatures wall,” funded by other sources.
Stage Two Exhibit Planning will commence this summer with a goal of completion by fall. Implementation of the exhibit is dependent upon additional funding. A preliminary exhibit implementation cost is $50,000, with half of that currently secured from a Laura Jane Musser Fund grant. The goal is to secure the balance of the exhibit funding over the late fall, early winter of 2011, with implementation of the full exhibit by spring, 2012.
As always, donations may be sent to: DPA; P.O. Box 1238; Baudette, MN 56623. Interested in this project? Come to the monthly meetings, currently at the LOW County Highway Office, first Wednesday of the month at 4:30 p.m. Together we can re-frame an abandoned building such as the Baudette Depot into a community asset and identity.