Museum of North Idaho is open during construction

COEUR d'ALENE — The Museum of North Idaho is surrounded by ditches, mounds of dirt and orange construction safety fencing, but it is indeed still operating and open to the public.

"I think when people come down here, they see all the structures in front of the museum and all the equipment and they don’t see any immediate place to get to the museum," said museum program and marketing director Robert Singletary. "I think they’re just assuming that we’re closed."

City assistant project manager Kim Harrington said the work being conducted by Contractors Northwest, Inc. in the area of the museum, located at 115 Northwest Blvd., is a part of the city's flood works repair project. Workers are building a sheet pile wall that is required for FEMA certification.

"It's all a part of the same project when they took down the trees down at Rosenberry Drive," Harrington said Thursday. "We're closing that opening and redoing the concrete cap that's on top of the sheet pile wall."

The project has created a bit of a maze for those who want to visit the museum. The museum's main doors are open, but people have to walk behind the building and enter from the northwest because access to the east is blocked. The parking lot to the north is closed to traffic, so visitors have to park at Independence Point or find a spot downtown and walk.

Museum director Dorothy Dahlgren said since the construction began April 5, the museum has been lucky to have about six guests a day. The museum opened for the season April 1.

"This really hurts us because we depend on this income for our operating budget," Dahlgren said. "(Tuesday) there was a lady out on the street saying, ‘How do I get in?'"

Harrington said the completion date for the project is on or before June 17.

"The contractor is making every effort to maintain pedestrian access to the museum," she said.

Dahlgren said she will be putting up banners with the museum's hours on the outside of the building. Smaller signs are sprinkled throughout the area, with arrows showing people how to get to the entrance.

"We're still here," she said. "We're open. We want to let people know so they come in. Tell your friends."

The Museum of North Idaho is open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 31. Admission is $4 for adults, $10 for families and $1 for children.

Historical walking tours with Singletary will return mid-June. The museum's present feature exhibit is "Ties to the Past: Railroad History in the Coeur d'Alene Region."

Info: www.museumni.org or 664-3448