Rendering from Pentwater Historical Society
By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
PENTWATER — Pentwater Historical Society has plans for a $1.5 million expansion of its museum at 85 S. Rutledge St. The museum has been located in the former First Baptist Chuch Building, built in 1894, for the past five years, according to Bob French, vice president of the society’s board of directors. The expansion plans call for the expansion of the back of the museum, practically doubling the current space, developing outdoor exhibits and creating an indoor/outdoor event space that will fit up to 200 people.
The current museum space will also be renovated and will include new, interactive exhibits. However, the building’s arch, a key architectural element of the building, will remain.
To date, over $800,000 of the funds have been raised.
The Pentwater Historical Society, a charitable non-profit organization, was formed in 1982. Its mission is to seek to connect people to history of Pentwater by collecting, preserving and sharing information and artifacts.
The society includes several key artifacts from Pentwater’s history. One of the more regionally recognized collections are items that came from the wreck of the S.S. Novadoc off Juniper Beach near the Silver Lake Sand Dunes on Nov. 11, 1940. Known as the Armistice Day Storm, the event resulted in the sinking of five vessels, three between Little Point Sable and Pentwater, and the loss of over 60 lives on Lake Michigan. See related story here.
Another key exhibit is a model of the U.S.S. Sequoia, the former presidential yacht that visited Pentwater twice in the 1980s.
The renovated and expanded museum space will include interactive exhibits, a half section replica of a train car with holographic narrators, a replica of Ken Lite’s Drug Store that will serve as a gift shop, a replica of the Nickerson Inn dining room, among many other exhibits.
The indoor/outdoor plaza will be available for rent with each area being able to seat up to 100 people.
French said the goal is to complete the expansion in 2026.
The museum is open June through October.
More information about the expansion project, how to donate, and how to join can be found at the society’s website, pentwaterhistoricalsociety.org.
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