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Finding new use for old school, town hall

The Fremont Area Historical Society hopes to turn a former school building into a museum and research center.

“It could be a research museum and there could be special events and programs,” Elsie Mae Yohr said.

The old Beaver Dam School was built in 1884 and was open until 1958.

In 1960, the town of Fremont purchased the building for its town hall.

With a new town hall being built, the town is willing to lease the building to the historical society for $1 per year.

Doing so was among the topics of a July 30 meeting of the historical society.

The group currently meets at the Fremont Village Hall.

During the recent meeting, it was noted that the historical society is the only group that has expressed an interest in the building.

If the historical society does lease the former school, it would have to pay for any maintenance costs. The town would continue to cut the lawn and plow the snow.

One question was who would be responsible for having insurance on the building. That is something the historical society will ask the town.

Yohr said the building could be open from Memorial Day until Labor Day with hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

“That is what most small musems do,” she said. “They are open on week days by appointment.”

Volunteers would be needed to staff the building, and some in attendance said that will be the biggest obstacle.

“I think we should keep it open on Sunday afternoon. That’s all we could handle. We should have at least two people,” said Ann Mathwig.

Yohr said said those who volunteer could be Scouts, members of 4-H clubs and other local groups.

Volunteers would not have to be members of the historical society.

Part of the building could be a one-room school, and Yohr said their group could receive assistance from the state historical society in determining how to set up the museum and research center.

The Fremont Area Historical Society could also seek grants to help establish the museum and research center.

There was also a discussion about how often programs would be held there. The historical society sponsors programs most months of the year.

However, members of the group are often the only ones in attendance. Some believe they should consider putting their efforts into sponsoring several programs a year.

One event the group was in agreement on was to hold a Beaver Dam All-School Reunion on Memorial Day weekend. It will be a potluck and also an open house.

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