It may take up to six months, but Caldwell County’s past will soon have a future on Main Street in downtown Princeton.
And it will be a very personal future — the lives of past and present generations of city and county residents, put to paper and preserved in other forms, for future generations to study.
The official purpose is genealogy, as a project of the George Coon Public Library, which is preparing to accept bids for the restoration of the library-owned building at 201 West Main St., most recently occupied by the Athletic Center.
Once the renovation is complete — possibly by April or May, Library Director Judy Boaz said Thursday — the building will house a roomier, more accommodating version of the library’s current genealogy archive, now located in the library basement.
“It’s going to be a wonderful asset to Princeton,” she said.
The idea for the new facility came, she said, from a conversation with a friend about Boaz’s desire to make the genealogy archives accessible at street level.
Word of the conversation reached a private benefactor, who agreed to fund the initial renovation. The cost of perpetual care and maintenance will likely be assumed by the library, Boaz said.
After the Athletic Center moved to its new building on Linton Way, the scene was cleared for the library to proceed with its expansion.
The library board of directors hired Hopkinsville architect David Jones, responsible for the design of several other downtown construction/renovation projects, to engineer the project.
Jones and the library are now prepared to solicit bids for the historic building’s improvement.
Work includes restoration of wood frame and gypsum drywall partitions, a suspended ceiling, new finishes, cabinets, new plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning systems, as well as tuck pointing and exterior painting.
The bids will be accepted until 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 23, when they will be opened and read.
A pre-bid conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 14, at the building site, the corner of Main and Harrison streets.
Once completed, the facility will hopefully accommodate both current genealogy and history enthusiasts and interested visitors touring the city’s downtown area, Boaz said.
“It is a known fact that one of the largest draws in the state of Kentucky is people coming into the state to do genealogical research,” she said.
Visitors to the current genealogy room have said it is an exceptional archive, but somewhat hard to access physically, she added.
An elevator is available, but most of the genealogy patrons prefer to use a steep, narrow set of stairs that descend into the cramped passageways of the library basement.
The dangers of falls and other accidents for those doing genealogy research — many of whom are older people — are real, Boaz said.
Those problems will be erased when the genealogy department moves into its new home.
The one-level building has no stairs to navigate and features ADA-accessible mens’ and womens’ restrooms, for easy access by any interested persons.
A conference room and a small snack/break area are also planned.
Visitors will find a variety of genealogical material available when they arrive, if all goes according to plan, Boaz said.
A new computer will be installed, tooled specifically for genealogical research. The library plans to subscribe to some online genealogy databases and provide access to other helpful Internet information.
The new genealogy center will also offer continued free access to its archive of documents:
• family files, detailing the histories of some families in the county;
• obituary files, some dating as far back as the late 19th century, now maintained and kept current by Glenn Martin and Ruth Nichols;
• photo files, containing numerous historical pictures;
• census records, court records, county histories, marriages, wills, death records, and more.
Some genealogical information is also available from other southern states, from Alabama through Virginia. A limited amount of Illinois genealogical information is also available, Boaz said.
A special section dedicated to genealogy related to the Trail of Tears is also planned, she said.
The library welcomes any donations of genealogical information, historical artifacts, photos, etc., especially information on local/area Native American genealogy and ancestry.
The added space will also give the library a chance to display some valuable books that had been kept in storage.
Some volumes housed in the Princeton Collegiate Institute will be made available, she said. Other rare books may be put on display in locked cases, if funding allows for those cases to be acquired, she added.
The genealogy library will be staffed full-time, hopefully by federal Title V trainees (who must be 55 or older and meet income requirements).
One or two part-time employees may also be hired, Boaz said.
The genealogy library will be open during regular library hours, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
