kalona-historical-society-bigt

Big things are coming to the Kalona Historical Village, literally, thanks to an emergency grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation. At their July meeting the Riverboat Foundation met with Nancy Roth, Director of the Kalona Historical Village, and agreed to a $300,000 emergency grant to acquire a barn from the former Wolf Farm property, located on G-36 between Washington and Highway 218. This week, Roth talked with KCII News about the barn, why it fits the village, and the possible plans her organization has for the building, “A lot of people want to know why a barn, why this barn, what are you going to do with it? We have a lot of plans. This barn, because it is definitely majestic, looks a little rough around the edges on the outside right now, but its in really good shape on the inside. When this came around it was just perfect because that is one thing that we don’t talk about here at the Historical Village, is farming and agriculture, and so this barn is a part of our mission statement, preserving the history of Kalona and the surrounding area, it’s within our county. It may take us a few years for exhibits, we will definitely be doing more fundraising. But we want to tell stories, that’s the big key.” Early work has begun to prepare the barn’s new home including pouring a concrete pad on the west side of the grounds in Kalona. The barn will travel intact with movers roughly 15 miles down rural roads to the Historical Village later this fall.