Historical Society museum reopens outfitted with a geothermal system

Historical Society museum reopens outfitted with a geothermal system

For some, a fire might be the end of the road for a journey, but for others, it’s an opportunity to rebuild. Isanti County News reported that the Isanti County Historical Society Heritage Center, located in Cambridge, Minnesota, will soon reopen its doors after being closed for two years.

The center and most of its contents were destroyed by an arsonist in July 2011. The news source reported that since then, the society has been working diligently with state and local officials and community members to get the center back up and running.

“I think everyone is still in a little shock about what happened two years ago and thinking about what we lost,” said Executive Director Kathy McCully, according to the news source. “We had a charred building, went through a demolition and salvaged what we could. We had a lot of meetings about what people wanted from us and we reassessed our mission.”

The new center will be built on the exact location of the old one, reported the news source. It has been outfitted with a number of different features to make it more operationally efficient and useful for the community.

“The new facility is absolutely gorgeous, and it feels more professional,” Pettit-Christensen told the news source. “The layout is quite similar to the first, but it has been tweaked so that it will work better and truly serve the needs of the Isanti County Historical Society today. There is a conference room. The public area is separate from the work zone — this is especially important when the facility is rented out for various events.”

In addition, the structure is heating and cooling itself with a geothermal system, reported the Isanti County News. A geothermal heating and cooling unit will allow the society to run the facility more efficiently. Instead of paying for the escalating cost of heating the structure with traditional oil or natural gas, the site is now able to stay warm with solar power stored in the ground. The price of heating is only continuing to rise in many parts of the nation – this switch to renewable energy will be operationally beneficial.

The Isanti County Historical Society will also now be able to demonstrate its dedication to promoting sustainability in the community. Already the group focuses on keeping the memories of the past alive, this switch to geothermal energy will allow the organization to dedicate itself to the future promise of the people it serves by reducing the carbon footprint associated with the structure.

According to the news source, the new heritage center is expected to fill multiple roles for the community. The society’s website claims that people may be able to hold meetings there, rent a space and even hold educational seminars – all things that were previously very difficult to do in the old structure.”