02-07-2025
Door County museum gets four times its previous storage space by getting a new building
One might think a museum getting a new, bigger storage space achieves no more than, well, getting more storage space.
But the new collections storage and archive building for the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay will allow the museum to do much more than just stash more stuff and organize it better, deputy director and development manager Sam Perlman said.
It also could lead to new displays and more exhibition and educational opportunities in the museum and help move the museum closer to the national accreditation that improves its status among other museums.
"This is incredibly important," Perlman said to the Advocate. "It puts us in a position to be far better stewards and caretakers of all the objects and the stories that go along with these pieces."
DCMM acquired the building at 512 S. Columbia Ave. on June 2, with the previous owner of that property buying the two buildings on Cumberland Avenue the museum formerly owned and used for its storage and archive space. The South Columbia building previously hosted a number of different businesses, including Virginia-headquartered medical equipment manufacturer Cadence, Inc.
The most obvious advantage to the new building is an increase in available space – more than four times the space, in fact. The two storage buildings on Cumberland between them totaled about 5,000 square feet of space, while the building on South Columbia offers about 23,000 feet.
Perlman said the new space won't fill up immediately, but the current storage buildings are "ridiculously overcrowded" and the new space will help museum staff better organize its archives and prepare for possible future acquisitions.
He noted organizing in the larger space also will make it easier to freshen exhibits or rotate artifacts into the museum for viewing, perhaps even to create new exhibits and displays from the artifacts in the collections.
"It will allow us to properly catalog and identify all our collections and discover some hidden treasures in the collections and bring them to the public," Perlman said.
Also, only one of the two buildings on Cumberland had a heating system, and neither was capable of being fitted with the climate control systems a museum requires for accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, which recognizes accredited museums as using best practices in its operations and can lead to opportunities for artifact and exhibit loans from other museums as well as increased national recognition. The new storage and archive site can be fitted with the proper HVAC and climate control systems.
"The new building gets us on the way. It's the next major step in the progress toward accreditation," Perlman said.
Perlman also said some space in the new building is likely to be used for research and educational programs.
The move of DCMM's collection needs to be completed by Sept. 2. Perlman said one of the two current spaces is almost emptied, but volunteers are sought to help clear out the other by the deadline. To volunteer or for more information, email DCMM volunteer coordinator Megan Dietz at mdietz@ or call 920-743-5958.
Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or cclough@
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Door County museum gets four times its storage space with new building
