Streatorland Historical Society Museum will open Saturday at new location across from City Park

Mary Lou Anderson of the Streatorland Historical Society Museum said artifacts were so tightly compiled in the Vermillion Street museum, when she packed up items to move to the new museum across from City Park, she made new discoveries.

“I was definitely finding items that ended up underneath something else,” the museum curator said.

Now, the Streatorland Historical Society has a new, welcoming challenge — finding ways to fill the 13 different exhibit rooms at the museum’s new home at 109 E. Elm St.

In late December, Dr. Glen Ricca donated his former office building to the Streatorland Historical Society, which operates the city’s history museum.

The museum is scheduled to host a grand opening 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 28, to coincide with Park Fest going on across the street and then open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. regularly on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays beginning June 1.

For the past five months, historical society members have been busy ripping out sinks in the former patient rooms, painting the new exhibit rooms, along with packing and unpacking dozens of bins of Streator historical artifacts.

Anderson said the funnest part was setting up the new rooms.

Each one has a theme — the founders room, the glass room, the coal room, the downtown room, the ladies styles room, the theater room, the Tombaugh and Zouaves room, the train room, the retailers room, the sports room, the military room, the high school room and thee grade school room, along with a rotating exhibit room.

Various items of Streator history, such as the gargoyle on top of the former fountain at City Park, glass walking canes made from the city’s glass blowers, Streator bricks and a Streator Reds baseball jersey are among the artifacts on display.

The museum also features a spacious gift shop welcoming patrons, a kitchen for staff, an office for staff and a research room for visitors. The research room includes directories and obituaries clipped and organized by Jack Gilbert from Streator newspapers dating back to the 1800s.

A rotating exhibit room allows the museum to host traveling exhibits, something that would have been a challenge at the former museum. Additionally, the new building has a large basement space for storage.

The caboose on display outside of the Vermillion Street museum, however, is not ready to make the move, Anderson said.

The new location is expected to provide more exposure to the museum, including drawing in visitors from summer festivals at the park.

“There are so many opportunities with our new building,” Anderson said. “We’re so excited to open.”