The Edmonds South Snohomish County Historical Society Thursday night hosted the first of what will be a series of public town hall meetings in hopes of defining and shaping what the historical society and the Edmonds Historical Museum will look like 50 years from now.

The hour-long presentation and subsequent discussion at the Edmonds Library were led by Arnie Lund, the historical society’s vice president.

Recognizing the past and looking to the future

Lund reminded the audience that the historical society and museum had recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, and there was now a strong desire to establish a vision for the next 50 years.

The first goal is to establish what direction the historical society and museum will be taking via a macro-level design concept.  This approach will be similar to previous processes undertaken by the Cascadia Museum, Edmonds Center for the Arts and the Edmonds Waterfront Center.

Public discussions and feedback will be critical to which direction is ultimately taken. The goal is to make both the museum and the historical society valuable assets to the community. As Lund emphasized: “If it doesn’t work for people, it doesn’t work.”

Work that has already been accomplished

Over the past year, the historical society has been endeavoring to do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on the Edmonds Historical Museum via surveys taken at the Edmonds Summer Market, and survey and analysis work accomplished by undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Washington.

Weaknesses include:

– The museum is largely unknown. People do not realize what the building is and what it offers.

– Unreliable hours due to minimal staff and volunteers. This was further complicated with COVID-19, but it remains a problem.

– Limited space, and the upper and lower floors seem like two different museums.

– Limited stories being shared tied to items on display. Over 30,000 items are owned by the museum, but histories have not been developed that tie the items to the history of the area.

Lund illustrated the point by showing a large coffee grinder recently donated to the museum that was originally in one of the first stores on Highway 99. However, a historical account of the item has not been documented. That type of history needs to recorded, to educate and attract the public to the museum and its potentially revolving exhibits.

Strengths include:

– The museum’s building is on the National Registry as a Carnegie Building — the architecture is recognizable.

– Location, location, location. The museum is located in the heart of downtown Edmonds.

– Oral histories have been taken and others are underway to document the history of the area.

– There is a large collection of historical items, and potential collaboration or network opportunities with the Edmonds Library, the Edmonds School District and other businesses to expand the museum beyond the physical walls of the building. (i.e. a museum without borders).

In addition to the feedback from the surveys and student fact finding, the historical society has contracted with an architectural firm with museum experience to develop a preliminary conceptual plan for renovating the museum to benefit the public and increase its value to the community.

The vision

As stated in the slide above, the historical society’s goal is to engage, educate and inspire the public to know more about its past, which hopefully will help guide it in the future. It is hoped that whatever direction Edmonds takes as a community, results in the museum being highly valued by the community, engaging our children, parents and grandparents across all income levels and nationalities.

To accomplish those goals, there are definite needs. Some identified by the historical society are on the following slide:

To achieve these, the community needs to become involved in the planning process. The initial conceptual design is just the first step. The architects’ initial conceptual design is targeted to be completed by the end of September or early October, which will lead to the next town hall meeting.  The more engagement and feedback from the public, the better.

Whatever the final conceptual design is, it will lead to more detailed plans, funding discussions and construction plans.

This slide documents a few of the goals that have been identified to help make the museum a valuable and cherished asset:

Final thought

As Lund’s final slide stated, Edmonds needs the community to be engaged, and understand what the historical society and Edmonds Historical Museum are endeavoring to do.

Stay tuned for the announcement regarding the next town meeting. In the interim, feedback and thoughts can be sent to amlundjr@gmail.com. Put Edmonds Historical Museum in the message line so that Lund can easily identify it.

— Story and photos by Byron Wilkes