CALDWELL, Idaho — The Melba Valley Museum recently received approval for a grant of $7,960 to renovate the last standing hotel room in the building that's still in its original state.
- The Melba Valley Museum first opened in 2013 and is currently run by a group of volunteer board members.
- The building holds a lot of Melba history for visitors to learn about and is open for private and group tours.
- The museum is regularly open on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and in the months from May to October.
- Click here for a guided tour, organized by the museum, that explains the historical significance of the different buildings around Melba.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
"We're entirely a volunteer organization," board member Linda Morton said.
The Melba Valley Museum recently received a grant to support from Historic Preservation in Canyon County.
Board member Linda Morton says the money will help with much-needed upgrades.
"If you look up at the ceiling you can see that it's had a lot of odd patches over the years so that will all be getting re-plastered to the appropriate time period and we'll also be putting in a more appropriate light fixture then that silly thing that's hanging up there right now," said Morton.
The building itself holds a lot of Melba history.
The museum was once a hotel and this room is the last hotel room in its original state in the building.
"So the whole idea is to do some repairs but also keep the historic character of the room," said Morton.
"Some of the folks that grew up here, particularly in the 40s, they used to roller skate up here—the kids. There was a young lady that came out from Nampa periodically and she taught tap dance and ballet up here in this room," said Morton during a tour of the rest of the museum. "I would like people that visit the museum to really get an appreciation for small-town community life."
The board has used grants in the past to help fund other projects such as re-roofing the building and purchasing exhibit cases and archival supplies. They were even able to paint the outside of the building with grant money.
"We've used their grants, actually I think every year since we've been open so they've helped us a lot," said Morton. "It's a nice facility. If you like history if you're taking a Saturday afternoon drive during our open hours we would invite everybody to stop by and see what we have going on."