The Isanti County Historical Society is sorting salvaged items and considering what to do next after an arson fire last summer destroyed its building.

by BRYNA GODAR , Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/142122333.html

Eight months after history turned to smoke and ashes in an arson fire at the Isanti County Historical Society, the organization is contemplating its future -- not whether it will have one, but the directions it will take.

The Cambridge fire consumed about 70 percent of the society's archives and all of the building's interior, and the staff now is working in a two-room suite provided by the county, sifting through damaged documents and artifacts.

"We're kind of reassessing the traditional model of how a historical society operates," said Kathy McCully, executive director of ICHS. As staff members evaluate whether to rebuild at the old location or move into a new building, they are also considering becoming fully digital or having virtual exhibits.

In January, staff began to reorganize and document the contents of 61 boxes of salvaged materials. After the fire and the resulting hose-down, wet documents that had not succumbed to the flames were freeze-dried to prevent mold. The documents returned in mid-December, without mold, but were "very brittle." McCully said the lifespan of the paper has been compromised by the fire, smoke, water and chemicals.

The society plans to encapsulate some of the documents, placing them between two sheets of film so people can still handle them without touching the actual paper. In addition, all of the documents will be scanned to preserve them digitally, a step that had not been taken before.

Another storage unit houses about two dozen big tubs of hand-dried items that will need to be inventoried, cleaned, refiled, and organized.

"This is a huge undertaking," McCully said. "We're all very tired, we're trying to take it all in little steps because it's so overwhelming."

She expects it will be at least another year and a half before they can move into a new building.

It will be a slow rebuilding process. The fire claimed photographs, scrapbooks, phone records. "We lost tons of oral history - taped interviews and the transcriptions," McCully said. "They're a one-of-a-kind thing."

The society isn't currently accepting historical items, but received many calls after the fire and thousands of dollars in donations. It also received a $7,000 grant from the Minnesota Historical Society to help with recovery efforts.

McCully said the society is going to become more proactive about collecting records, making copies of documents that people want to keep. "Generally people bring things to historical societies; we'd like to become more proactive about seeking it out," she said. "Our mission is to preserve the history of Isanti County."

Bryna Godar is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/125314573.html

Article by: NORMAN DRAPER , Star Tribune

An arson fire that destroyed the Isanti County Historical Society building in Cambridge on Friday did potentially irreparable damage to a treasure trove -- church records, school yearbooks, family histories, wartime scrapbooks, cemetery records, plat maps from the 1800s, military uniforms, even sewing machines.

"This was a place where you could have found what church and school your great-great-grandparents belonged to," historical society board member Kurt Daudt, who is also a Republican state representative, said Sunday. "You could have found where the family homestead was."

Kathy McCully, the society's executive director, estimated that 70 percent of the building's archives and artifacts collection was destroyed, either by flames or the water used to put them out.

The fire was set in a recycling bin next to the building's outside wall and then spread up the wall into the attic, Daudt said. It was one of several that investigators from the Isanti County Sheriff's Office and the state fire marshal's office believe were set by arsonists in the Cambridge area early Friday. A $2,500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Investigators see no connection between the fires and the state government shutdown, which has left state parks and other facilities unsupervised and vulnerable to vandalism. The county historical society is not connected to state government; however, specialists in disaster recovery from the Minnesota Historical Society, which is closed, received special permission to help out with recovery and restoration.

On Saturday, workers spent 12 hours going through what remained of the building. Water-damaged items were wrapped in freezer paper, inventoried and placed in a freezer truck. They will be freeze-dried before being returned to the society, which will decide whether to keep or toss them.

"They have to be frozen because mold will begin to form within 48 hours," McCully said. Insurance should help with putting up a new structure, but the society is taking donations of money and items.

"If people can donate some photos, any school records, cemetery records, plat books, newspapers, anything in the county -- we lost almost everything," said volunteer former society president Tesha Pettit. "It's going to be awhile before we start collecting big items [such as bicycles] again, but things we can put in file folders, we're going to start collecting right away."

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547

HOW YOU CAN HELPTo donate, call Tesha Pettit at 651-248-8972 or go to the Isanti County Historical Society website or Facebook page.