The relocation process for the Aberdeen Museum of History is moving forward with building inspections ahead of a looming deadline early next year.

The city of Aberdeen has until the first week in January to notify the seller of their intent to finalize the purchase of a building for the new museum location.

The city’s offer on the proposed location was accepted by the seller in the beginning of November. The offer is now in the feasibility study period, in which the city has 45 days to inspect the building prior to purchase.

Rock Project Management has done a walk-through of the space and made recommendations to the city regarding electrical, heating, windows, the sprinkler system, and some plumbing aspects.

According to Aberdeen Parks & Recreation Director Stacie Barnum, the city’s representative on the Aberdeen Museum and History Board, the recommendations from the walk-through do not come as a surprise given the age of the building.

“What we’re hoping to do, should we proceed with the purchase of the building, is identify some grant funding sources that are available to help pay for renovations and improvements. That should help drive up the timeline,” she said.

The board’s approach to renovation is marked in phases. According to Barnum, they plan to prioritize the functionality of the first floor as a storage facility before turning to the second floor and the possibility for community engagement in the future.

“It’s just a matter of prioritizing which things need to be done in order to first use the space as a warehouse,” she said.

The collection is currently being stored in a warehouse in the Port Industrial area under a high-tech fire detection system that will be moved to future storage locations. Renting the warehouse costs the city about $5,000 a month.

In its current location, staff, volunteers, and museum board members are unable to re-document the lost and remaining artifacts in the collection. According to John Shaw, Chair of the Aberdeen Board of Museum and History, relocation offers an opportunity to continue the re-documentation process that they were considering when the pandemic halted any progress.

“The possibility to move the collection to a city-owned location is important. We’re carefully looking at how to maximize handling the re-documentation and moving process,” he said.

The board has been steadfast in their affirmation that the new location is to serve first and foremost as a permanent storage facility owned by the city. Shaw, however, believes the location has “good potential” for public engagement in the future pending renovations and development.

“This may be years in the future, and we’ll need to go after grants. The board is going to be asked how we plan to pay for some of these things that are needed for public engagement in the future, and we have a good deal of ideas already for that,” he said.

Inspections of the proposed space will continue with the roof, which has yet to be addressed. The company that services the elevators at Aberdeen City Hall will also inspect the elevators in the building.

The Aberdeen Board of Museum and History will hear formal recommendations from contractors at their Dec. 22 meeting.