Children seeking to learn about the history of the Niles area will soon get to take a more interactive approach, thanks to a grant from the Berrien Community Foundation and the Niles History Center’s partnership with the Niles District Library.
Monday night at the Niles City Council meeting Christina Arseneau, director of the History Center, accepted a check for $4,500 from Susan Matheny, Berrien Community Foundation program and scholarship officer.
Matheny said the grant hit on several key issues that indicate a worthy community project.
“It was a collaboration with a couple of organizations,” Matheny said. “It was educational and it was showing where we have been and where we are going in our communities.”
Starting this spring, the funds will help to revamp the first floor exhibits at the Fort St. Joseph Museum, 508 E. Main St.
Children will get to imagine life as a French fur trader in the Niles area during the 18th Century. Tasked with trading their fur for goods, children will get to dress up as fur traders and act out trading scenarios.
Additionally, children will get to hold the bones of the mighty mastodon or the mammoth — or at least the replicas of fossil. The revamp of the prehistoric exhibit will include hand held replicas of fossils that children can examine up close.
Arseneau said it is all part of a transition to make the museum more interactive and child friendly.
“Right now it is hands off, do not touch, and in the past lessons have been more lecture based,”
Aresneau said.
The revamp will also offer the museum a chance to showcase the Fort St. Joseph dig site, where 17th Century artifacts have been discovered by archeologists who have been working at the site since 2002. New panels discussing discoveries will be part of the upgrades.
While children are sure to appreciate the hands-on aspects, the revamp will also be engaging to adults.
A series of new panels will also highlight other aspects of the museum’s first-floor exhibits, including the railroad and Niles’ businesses.
The project is expected to begin in the springtime and exhibits should be fully updated by next year.
To give students a big picture of the history that enshrouds the area where they live, the museum upgrades will also include partnering with the Niles District Library. Starting in the spring, students who visit the museum for a field trip will start their journey at the Chapin Mansion, where they will get an introduction on area history. From there, students will visit the museum and then continue a hands-on activity at the Niles District Library.
“It is great to work with the library,” Arseneau said. “They are great folks over there and they do a ton of stuff for the community too. We are really happy to have their partnership.”
With so much to learn about the City of Four Flags, Arseneau said, she was grateful to the Berrien Community Foundation for supporting their efforts.
“It is nice to know that Berrien Community supports our initiatives here,” Arseneau said. “They are an organization with a great reputation and they do a lot of good in our community, so to have their support it is really important to us.”
Also Monday:
• Council members motioned to approve the re-appointment Nancy Gillespie to the Niles District Library Board, effective immediately.
• Council members re-appointed Robert Ahrens and Barbara Cook and appointed Jessica Deckard Mann to three-year terms on the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee.
• Council members re-appointed Steve Seifer to a two-year term to the Construction Board of Appeals, effective immediately.
• Council members re-appointed Mark Webber and Melissa Smith to four-year terms on the Main Street Downtown Development Authority, effective immediately.