Moving scaffolding
L to R: Museum Executive Director Clint Gilchrist, Jim Gehlhausen and Jerry Boyer, on the Sublette County Historical Society Board of Trustees, move scaffolding in preparation of contractors coming in to work on the fire suppression and lighting systems inside the museum.
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Blankets over display cases
Heavy blankets have been placed over all the large display cases to protect them as workers move scaffolding throughout the museum to reach pipes and lights up above.
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Covered cases
All of the displays inside the museum have had to be covered to protect them during the work on the overhead pipes and lights.
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Museum readies for major improvement work
by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
Original post March 23, 2019 | Updated March 27, 2019
The Museum of the Mountain Man in Pinedale is closed for the winter, but is still a very busy place right now. The Sublette County Historical Society is working to prep the interior of the museum in preparation of having contractors come in next week to work on the fire suppression and lighting systems throughout the inside of the museum.
Staff and Historical Society board members have been working to cover the large display cases with protective blanket padding and plastic sheeting. Some cases have had to be carefully lifted and moved to reposition them to allow scaffold and lift access to the 20+ foot high ceiling to reach the lights and sprinkler heads.
A fire suppression specialist company will come in and flush all the pipes in the museum and replace the 40-year old water spray valves. An electrical contractor will follow changing out all the remaining florescent lights with LED, which should make the interior lighting brighter and more energy efficient. The process is expected to take about two weeks, and then the interior has to all be put back in place again and cleaning work done before opening day in May.
Once the fire suppression and electrical projects are done inside, and the snow melts outside, another contractor will come in to put on a new roof on the outside of the building. Then another contractor will come in to put up the framework for a permanent large structured tent on the concrete pad on the south side of the museum building so events can be held outside under covering. While new lighting, upgrading the fires suppression system, and a new roof may not sound very exciting, they are much needed improvements to the functionality of the museum and something the historical society has been saving up for years to finally be able to get done.
The Museum will open May 1st for their regular summer season. The American Mountain Men will be at the museum for three days in mid-May for Living History Days. School children from around western Wyoming will be visiting for living history demonstrations and talks. The big event of the season is Green River Rendezvous July 11-14, with four days packed full of living history programs with the American Mountain Men, talks about Plains Indians by Bad Hand - Michael Terry, and children’s programs by Lapita & Dan Frewin. The festivities will kick off with the annual Western Art and Wine Auction.
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