WASHOUGAL — When it reopens in March, the Two Rivers Heritage Museum in Washougal will have a few “new” things to show off, thanks to a $5,220 Clark County Historical Promotion grant.
Awarded to the Camas-Washougal Historical Society, the grant will fund the restoration of four different antique instruments, including an Arion Square grand piano from the 1880s, a 1921 Bond player piano, a 107-year-old Cornish Piano and Organ Company pump organ and an antique child’s pump organ.
Jim Cobb, president of the Camas-Washougal Historical Society, says the grant will help add to the appeal of the Washougal historical museum.
“We are grateful to the Clark County Planning Commission for selecting our project for funding,” Cobb says. “We feel it is important to have these instruments repaired as an upgrade to the museum.”
Implemented in 2006, the county’s Historical Promotion Grants Program receives money from a $1 surcharge on county filing fees and uses those funds to preserve and promote various historical programs throughout Clark County. The county’s Historic Preservation Commission reviews grant applications during the fall months and recommends projects for funding to the Clark County Board of County Councilors in November. The grant-funding cycle begins each January.
To be approved for one of the Historical Promotion Grants, an organization must submit an application during the annual grant cycle and prove that its project or program will help the county preserve or promote local history, heritage and/or culture.
Cobb says he hopes the historical society will be able to finish the refurbishments on the antique pianos and organs before the Two Rivers Heritage Museum reopens on March 2, 2017.
The museum, which includes a substantial collection of Native American Indian baskets and artifacts, more than 6,000 historic photos of Camas-Washougal area buildings and residents, a doctor’s old buggy, historic bee-keeping and prune harvesting equipment and many antique musical instruments, is currently closed for annual maintenance.
When it reopens in March, the museum, located at 1 Durgan St., Washougal, will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday through Saturday. Cost of admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and $2 for students. Children under 5 and all Camas-Washougal Historical Society members get in free. The museum offers group tours any day of the week, by appointment. To schedule a tour, call (360) 835-8742.
For more information about the Historical Promotions Grant Program, visit the county’s website here. Want to learn more about the Camas-Washougal Historical Society and the Two Rivers Heritage Museum, join the historical society or become a volunteer? Visit the museum’s site and read about the building’s history, current programs and ongoing historical research.
