Lee’s Summit History Museum wins award for Best Adaptive Re-Use Preservation Project

Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC), launched as a non-profit organization in 2005, is designed to help communities preserve their historic buildings and reinvigorate their downtown districts. Through this work, the communities actively participating in the Missouri Main Street Program have successfully created 432 net new businesses and 2,605 net new jobs.

Based on economic data collected from the communities in the top three tiers of the Missouri Main Street program, since 2006, $668 million of private investments have been made in the Main Street communities. For every dollar appropriated to MMSC by the state of Missouri, $1,857 of private investments were made.  Public investments by municipal governments have totaled $127.9 million in improvements to infrastructure.

A ceremony Thursday night honored communities, individuals, businesses and civic organizations that have completed exemplary work in downtown revitalization. The Missouri Main Street Connection hosted the Evening of Excellence Awards at The Westin at Crown Center in Kansas City. Awards were presented in 14 categories.

The Lee’s Summit History Museum won the award for Best Adaptive Re-Use Preservation Project in a tie with Cape Girardeau’s former Federal Building.

The Lee’s Summit History Museum is part of the $2.9 million cultural arts bond initiative passed in April 2013 by the residents of Lee’s Summit. Built in 1939 by the Works Progress Administration, the building at 220 SW Main St. has served as the U.S. Post Office, City Hall and offices for local nonprofit ReDiscover before becoming a history museum.

The $660,000 restoration of the building allowed the Lee’s Summit Historical Society to move the town’s museum to a more prominent location with easy access for visitors and increased exhibit space. Hidden from visitors, the former museum space was tucked in the corner of the historic train depot and had limited space for exhibits and storage.

The project was completed by the City of Lee’s Summit who leased the space to the historical society. Hollis + Miller served as architect for the project and the contractor was The Wilson Group. Renovations began in August 2014 and the Lee’s Summit History Museum celebrated its opening on April 22, 2015.

This project represents more than 40 years of work by the Lee’s Summit Historical Society. The museum includes exhibits featuring former prominent downtown businesses such as Browning Mercantile. Also featured in the museum, is the restored Depression-era mural titled “Pastoral” that was painted by Terry Gilien in 1940 when the building was used for the post office.