KALAMAZOO, MI — The Alamo Township Historical Museum has closed its doors for good.
The Alamo Township Board of Trustees voted for the museum’s closure due to high upkeep costs and low attendance. Artifacts within the museum, 8119 N. 6th St., were put up for auction online.
“As time has gone on it was no longer becoming a big interest to the community nor a big interest outside of the community,” Alamo Township Supervisor Gail Vanderweele said of the museum.
Before closing, the museum was open two days a week, down from being open three days a week, and was staffed by community volunteers. Vanderweele said the high ceilings within the building helped lead to high electricity costs the township was no longer able to afford.
“The generation nowadays really don’t care about that kind of stuff,” Vanderweele said. “They don’t care about how people had to farm and so that has become a thing of the past. My generation is still very much so interested in that but the younger people are not.”
Creating the right temperature environment for artifacts was also a concern for the board. Within the building, constructed in 1868, there was no way of controlling the climate to create the ideal environment.
The township put out a notice in its newsletter to residents asking them to call the township if they had donated artifacts to the museum. Vanderweele said residents had to know what their family had donated and schedule a time to retrieve it within a certain timeframe.
“We decided we would go for an auction because our attorney had said another township had done that and it worked out real well because Biddergy is an online auction place,” the supervisor said. “We don’t have to hold a special day where everybody can come in there and bid it up.”
The Alamo Township Historical Museum Facebook page run by museum volunteers expressed frustration with the closure in a post from May 7. A representative of the volunteers declined to comment went contacted by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.
“I am aware of the group that has that webpage, they are upset about everything,” Vanderweele said.
She continued: “I know that we are following the direction in which our attorney has advised us. So if anything were to come to court, I’m fine with that because I know that we’ve done it the right way.”
Once the building is emptied, a bell in the rafters will be removed and secured in a glass case outside the township hall. The bell is a remnant from when the building was used as a church.
“That will be a piece of history that will stay on the grounds at Alamo Township,” Vanderweele said.
The Alamo Township Board of Trustees has not yet decided whether the building will be auctioned off or sold at a set price. They have been working with the city’s attorney to ensure proper steps are being maintained.
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