Sawmill Museum gets room to expand

CLINTON, Iowa — Clinton’s long-planned Sawmill Museum will have plenty of area to expand with the donation of four acres of land surrounding its building in north Clinton. The land will be donated by the Wild Rose Casino & Resort to the Midwest Lumber Museum, the nonprofit organization funding the Sawmill Museum. The closing on the property transfer will be today. The project was launched in 2004 to build a world-class interactive museum on the history of the lumber industry, its role in Clinton’s history and culture, and the importance of forests and wood products. The property is the second donation to the project by Wild Rose, totaling $1.75 million in value. It is located at 2231 Grant St. on the former McEleney Motors car dealership site. The museum is in a renovated body shop building. “We hope this donation will serve as a catalyst for the next phase of the project,” said Tim Bollmann, general manager of Wild Rose. Museum planners envision outdoor exhibits and attractions, such as a children’s park, fores- fire watchtower and an Olde Town Lyons living history area, featuring the “Big Tree,” to overlook the Mississippi River and the windmill in Fulton, Ill. The “Big Tree,” used to be a gathering place once located near the intersection of North 2nd Street and 13th Avenue North, marked the dividing line between the cities of Lyons and Clinton in the late 1800s. When completed, the museum is expected to draw more than 40,000 visitors annually. “This donation allows us to not only share significant cultural, historic and environmental practices from the past to the present, but these visitors will leave knowing more about our own city’s rich traditions,” director Rich Phelan said. The museum is working to raise $8.5 million for the state-of-the-art history and environmental center, which will feature seven main areas: The Northwoods, The Logging Experience, The Rafting Experience, The Sawmill, Clinton, The Railroad to the West, and End of an Era to mark Clinton’s role in the lumber industry. The museum has hosted several traveling exhibits and will open in phases as early as 2011. The project has received more than $750,000 in grants and $2.75 million in donations.