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 Amy Lotven | daily herald The old train depot on First Street in Weldon is currently home to the public library, but will soon house a new historical and cultural museum. |
Town Commissioner Julia Meacham, who chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, confirmed the commission approved a request to move the Weldon library from its current location at the old train depot. The library will be relocated to the Helig Meyer building in downtown Weldon and the depot, which is already on the National Register of historic places, will be used for the new museum.
Meacham said the museum idea has been simmering for years, but always on the backburner.
Now, with the opening of the Roanoke Canal Trail & Museum in Roanoke Rapids, the upcoming Carolina Crossroads Entertainment & Music District and other projects, she said the “timing is perfect” to turn up the heat.
“We just felt that a museum was needed to talk about our rich heritage,” Meacham said. “Weldon citizens want to share their rich history, and tell the story for future generations. I want people to get excited and start looking in the attic for things they can donate.”
She said the museum will most certainly draw scores of tourists to the areas who can stay in the downtown area and shop in the town's newly revitalized business district. Weldon is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration project.
The Canal Trail and museum has estimated more that 100,000 people would visit the facility in the first year, and “we assume the same number would come to ours,” Meacham said.
Christina Gordon, manager of the Roanoke Canal & Museum Trail, agreed the museum is an exciting venture.
Gordon said it will trace the town history from its Native American roots, to pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary times to the Civil War era and onto recent times. The museum will of course cover the impact of the Weldon-Wilmington line, which was once the world's longest railroad, and the Roanoke River and canal on the community.
Because the depot is already located along the seven-and-a half mile walking trail, the new museum will have a direct link to the Roanoke Canal Museum. “It will be another jewel in the necklace,” she said. “And it's a great opportunity for the entire town.”
Architect Frank Harmon has been commissioned for the project and met with members of the strategic planning committee at the depot on Friday afternoon for a tour of the facility. Harmon said he found the building ‘structurally sound” and a perfect site for the new museum.
Weldon's has one of the most interesting untold histories in North Carolina, Harmon said, adding it will be very important that the museum include the social, cultural and economic contributions of the area's entire diverse population.
Harmon, who also designed the Roanoke Canal Museum, said he plans to send Meacham an outline for the project some time in January. The next step would be for all those people who have a stake in the project to get together and brainstorm ideas. The design will stem from those concepts, he said.
Meanwhile, the Strategic Planning Group, which consists of active members Meacham, Bill Blackwell and Van Moten, will work to establish a “museum committee” whose members must be approved by the town commission.
As for the library, Meacham said a feasibility study will be conducted to determine exactly how much space the library will need before the relocation.
This will be the library's fourth move since its inception in 1910. It started out as a local book club and its stock has increased every year. For a town of just 1,400 to support such a library is exciting and impressive, she said.
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