Capital Campaign
The Historical Society of the Phoenixville Area celebrated our 48th anniversary, and is looking toward to the future!
The Society completed our Phase I Capital Fund Campaign by raising over $830,000. We are starting Phase II to ultimately raise a total of two million dollars. The goal is to further renovate the building and grounds.
Your History is Our History ... a Capital Campaign for the Future!
You are invited to participate to help fund this project to “preserve your history” with a contribution to the Historical Society’s Capital Fund.
Contact HSPA below to get more info about how to give my Capital Campaign Gift
More about our Capital Campaign
As we approached our 44th anniversary we began studying 2 options for our future: should we relocate to a new building or should we remain in our current building? A Facilities Committee was formed to review the possibilities.
We looked at what we had with our current building, especially our location in the community. It was unanimously decided that we had been on this corner for over 42 years, had a solid building, and had the largest open green space in downtown Phoenixville.
As they say Location, LOCATION, LOCATION! We agreed that we needed to stay in our current location, but our building needed to become handicapped accessible. That meant adding an elevator large enough to move artifacts and groups of people between floors, as well as adding a ramp from the back door to the side yard. In addition, we needed climate controls throughout our building, both to protect our artifacts and to make the building more comfortable for volunteers and visitors.
Implementing these plans required an upgrade of our electrical service.
Some of you may have seen our early plans to move the entrance, add a third floor to the back section of the building, add a classroom, move the museum up to the sanctuary, as well as make a rental space in the old museum. The cost of these plans in 2018 money was nearly 2.2 million dollars.
We hired a consultant to conduct a Feasibility Study to see if we would be able to get support to complete the project as presented. The consultant surveyed a portion of the community. Those interviewed felt the greatest success would be to focus on handicapped accessibility and give up a potential third floor and rental space ideas. It was determined that we needed to break the project into several PHASES.
The Society has grown over the past 48 years since its founding into a highly rated regional History Center and Museum with over 35,000 items and photographs entered into our archives.
Along with the revitalization of Phoenixville, the Society is experiencing increased demand for research inquiries, museum visits, and history programs. The Society’s Board of Directors decided in 2018 to preserve and renovate our 1873 building to meet the Society’s present and future needs for informative speakers. In order to meet the increasing demand, we need more space to “Preserve The Past… Enrich The Future.
We raised over $800,000 to complete Phase I of our Capital Campaign. The major focus of Phase I was making our building ADA compliant. The tasks involved in Phase 1 included:
- Upgrade the electrical systems
- Add an elevator (Shindler 3100)
- Add a staircase around the elevator
- Add HVAC for the entire second floor (Heat pump and air conditioning)
- Construct ramps to the side yard of the property
The Phase I work allows people with mobility challenges to access both the second floor and the side yard. The elevator will also let volunteers easily move artifacts, displays and showcases between the floors.
The need for HVAC on the second floor is far more than for the comfort of volunteers and visitors. We have 8 rooms storing artifacts on the upper floor (the old Sunday School rooms) that need better temperature and humidity control.
We have not yet planned additional reconstruction phases, but Phase 1 has been completed. The elevator is close to the main entrance door at 204 Church Street.
PHASE I – work will allow future museum expansion and exhibit work areas to the upper floor of the space, research library, and volunteer building; upgrading electric service to the building, and providing an elevator and ADA access ramps for full both floors; adding full HVAC to the accessibility.
PHASE II – Work will build on Phase I by relocating the museum and research/work area to a brighter, more functional space; provide a more valuable visitor experience, and promote a greater appreciation of the rich history of the Phoenixville Area through a:
- A larger and brighter museum and exhibit area
- An enhanced entrance and access to the upper floor
- An expanded David M. Frees, Jr. Research Library with computer stations
- A new meeting room/classroom
- Increased storage space for our growing collection of artifacts photographs, and documents
- Improved lighting and climate control throughout the building
- The board of directors was all in with Phase 1. Our board is made up of 15 members and all made donations
- We raised for Phase 1 over $800,000.
- Many thanks to all who have donated
- We received two legacy gifts from the estates of two members who passed away.
- Dr. Joseph Cornett Jones bequeathed $12,800.00 in his will.
- Dr. Donald Harrop bequeathed $250,000 in his will, $125,000.00 for the Capital Campaign and an additional $125,000.00 to be spent at the discretion of the board.
- We also had a Giving Tree donation that resulted in just under a total of $50,000 in total donations.
Our Next Meeting:
HSPA will have our next Quarterly Meeting on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 starting at 7:30 pm. The topic will be “Home History Research”.
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