During our 50 years of existence, the largest grant ever made by the Community Foundation was a $1.9 million award to the Fort Atkinson Historical Society in 2005 to help them make dramatic improvements to the Hoard Historical Museum. Armed with our grant, which instantly got them halfway to the $3.8 million project price, the museum's capital campaign committee kicked off public fundraising for the Hoard Legacy Project and successfully raised the matching $1.9 million during 2006. Construction began in December 2006 and the newly renovated museum opened its doors on Oct. 27, 2007 - 50 years to the date of the museum's original opening in 1957.
And what a renovation it was! The museum's Hoard Legacy Project included the fabulous Mysteries of the Mounds exhibit crafted by staff at the Milwaukee Public Museum, the Jones Family Gallery for art shows and community gatherings, the Knox Research Library & Archive, as well as state-of-the-art storage facilities for collections and documents. The project remodeled 6,000 sq.ft of museum space and added an additional 14,000 sq. ft. to the facility.
The fund doing most of the heavy lifting to pay this grant was our Mary Hoard Fund and we absolutely know how much this project would have pleased Mrs. Hoard who, during her lifetime, was a generous benefactor to the Hoard Museum.
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