(rshsdepot) East Ely, NV

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From the Ely Times.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
State to close East Ely Railroad Museum after $1.4 million renovation

By JOHN PLESTINA
Ely Times Reporter

One of just seven state museums in Nevada and a vestige of Ely's  history and 
heritage, the East Ely Railroad Depot Museum is at risk of being  forced to 
close by the state after the state spent $1.4 million to renovate the  historic 
buildings.
 
With state budget cuts wrought by economic problems and Gov. Jim Gibbons  
determined to maintain a balanced budget, the museum is tentatively scheduled to  
be closed July 1, 2009. If that happens, the museum's collection could be 
moved  to Carson City or Las Vegas.
 
“It doesn't make any sense,” said Museum Director Sean Pitts, of state  
plans to shut the museum down after spending $1.4 million for renovations.  “We're 
the only state-sponsored cultural museum in rural Nevada” and the only  one 
of seven state museums on the Gibbons Administration's chopping block. The  
museum in Ely is the only one east of Carson City.
 
“Ely and White Pine County stand to lose big on this,” Pitts said.
 
The state requires that the museum's collection remain under the  supervision 
of a curator. Pitts is the curator.
 
Despite the possibility of closure, the museum will hold a grand opening  
later this month. The date is yet to be announced.
 
Pitts said last week that he had not heard of any discussions of local  
government or private entities expressing an interest in funding the museum. He  
said it is possible that the state might allow the museum to remain open if  
there was a funding source other than the state, but costs would be high.
 
“I think there would be a way to do that if we could raise the money to  keep 
it open,” Pitts said.
 
“Ely could make a big enough stink. Why should Carson City be able to keep  
two museums?” Pitts asked.
 
With the renovations, the 101-year-old complex on Avenue A at 11th Street  
East appears as it did in 1907. Ramps and restrooms are compliant with the  
Americans with Disabilities Act but retain the early 20th Century charm.
 
The freight building sat on a wooden foundation that endured a century of  
harsh weather. Now it is on a permanent foundation.
 
Reyman Brothers Construction of Reno worked 10 months, from November 2007,  
through last winter, until the project was completed in September. That  
contractor renovated the Eureka Opera House and numerous historic buildings in  the 
Reno area and in California.
 
Old world craftsmanship met space age materials in June when Sartorial  
Masonry of Reno restored the stone work at the depot. Missing pieces of stone  were 
fashioned and dyed to fit and match the stonework so that it looks as it  did 
when the depot was built in 1907.
 
“We tried very hard to replicate what was here in 1907,” Pitts said. “We're  
ADA compliant using 1907 fixtures.”
 
A wedding with 250 people attending was held in the freight barn and the  
Schellbourne Re-riders held a Pony Express annual meeting there.
 
The freight barn as a convention center could accommodate about 300  people.
 
Enhancing the depot and freight barn is a plan by the city of Ely to  develop 
a new park on a municipally owned parcel of land on Avenue A opposite  the 
NNRy complex.
 
When Kennecott Mining Corporation shut down its operation in White Pine  
County in 1983, the company donated the railroad, all its assets and records to  
the city. The White Pine Historic Railroad Foundation was organized as a  
nonprofit group to receive the facility, administer it and develop an operating  
railroad museum. Kennecott made substantial donations consisting of the East Ely 
 Complex of machine shops, roundhouse, yards and rolling stock as well as 
over 32  miles of track and the McGill Depot. The Railroad Foundation deeded the  
buildings to the state of Nevada in 1990. Pitts has been the director since  
1992.
 
The museum's mission is to preserve the NNRy and the region's mining  
heritage.



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