'A huge win': Museum of North Idaho receives $350,000 grant toward capital campaign

COEUR d’ALENE — Britt Thurman liked the word in all caps that greeted her eyes in the subject line of the email from the Murdock Charitable Trust: “CONGRATULATIONS.”

“As soon as I saw it, it was like, ‘Yes,’” said the executive director of the Museum of North Idaho.

The nonprofit recently learned it received a $350,000 grant from the private foundation based in Vancouver, Wash., for its capital campaign to build a new museum in Coeur d'Alene.

It was the final reward following an extensive process that started more than a year ago.

Thurman called it a “huge win."

“We are still on schedule to move into our new location next spring,” she said Tuesday.

The plan is to open April 1 in the renovated J.C. White House that was relocated in 2019 from Eighth Street and Sherman Avenue to McEuen Park at the base of Tubbs Hill near City Hall.

Construction calls for an expanded 11,500-square-foot facility to house exhibits, art and educational resources. It will include climate-controlled spaces that conform with modern museum standards and better preserve artifacts.

Progress has been steady. Crews were pouring cement Tuesday for walkways and driveways.

Thurman said the exterior site work should be completed in a few weeks and interior improvements will continue through year’s end.

Then, museum staff will have three months to move hundreds of displays and historical items from the Museum of North Idaho's current home by City Park to the new one about a mile away.

“We’ll be working nonstop,” Thurman said.

The museum has raised about $2.5 million since 2019 toward its phase one goal of $2.8 million. The second phase includes underground expansion. The entire project is pegged at about $6.5 million.

Thurman, who was hired as executive director in 2020, said interest in the Museum of North Idaho has grown tremendously since they started the capital campaign.

That, in turn, has led to more donations and strong support for fundraisers, like its galas that in the past two years brought in more than $100,000.

“We share our values and hope they see our value and want to be a part of it,” Thurman said.