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West Overton Museums Board names new leader
Rachel R. Basinger can be reached at rbasinger@tribweb.com or 724-626-3536.
Although only on the West Overton Museums Board of Directors for less than a year, Robert B. Ferguson was recently appointed president.
"I was pleasantly surprised that other board members had confidence in my ability to take on this position after being there for just a short time," Ferguson said.
While he had always known the basics of the neighboring museum from his home in Scottdale, he said, he learned much more about it while serving as president of the Laurel Highlands Chamber of Commerce.
"When they approached me and asked if I'd serve on the (West Overton) board, I had run my race with the chamber and I was looking for a new challenge," he said.
Being a local history enthusiast also drew him to becoming involved with the museum.
One of the first items on the agenda when Ferguson became a part of the board 10 months ago was to address the fiscal challenges the museum faced by "bringing in new faces who have been big contributors," Ferguson said.
"We did get that stabilized, and now we're working on trying to establish West Overton as having a National Historic Landmark status," he said.
There are several hurdles and paperwork trails in trying to gain the status, but if West Overton officials are successful, it will be second only to Bushy Run Battlefield in Westmoreland County to have such status.
"Right now we're in the process of trying to hire a grant writer to summarize our first application," Ferguson said. "If we succeed in this, it will open up federal funds that we've never had access to before so we can work on getting the village renovated back to the way it was back in the 1800s. We want to have each building in the village tell the story of what went on back then in the Frick community."
Museum officials will follow a study completed by the National Parks Service in 1992 when renovating the village. The study suggests such things as how to best renovate each building and what the streetscape should look like.
The museum recently acquired the last privately held structure in the village.
"We're in the process of renovating that site to rent out as a bike shop, and we're hoping to have a tenant in there by spring," Ferguson said.
That would tie in to the museum's plan to create a bike trail that would connect the Coal and Coke recreation trail to the museum.
The museum is considering joining a regional main street program with Scottdale and Mt. Pleasant boroughs, which would allow a better chance at obtaining funding.
For now, the village has closed for the season, although it hopes to continue monthly lectures, a Christmas tour and antique appraisals during the winter.
The challenges will continue, however, Ferguson said. "One of the biggest challenges we're facing right now is the economic situation the country is facing. The cost of the museum's day-to-day operations is covered by private donations and grants, but like many other nonprofit groups, we're struggling because the government is tightening up on what they're giving out and private donors are having to do the same."
To overcome the shortfall, the museum needs ideas to create its own money-making opportunities and be self-supporting, he added.
"We're looking at coming up with new events and we really want to bring out the whiskey aspect of the village's history and make it a major part of the story telling here," Ferguson said.
