Ground breaking on Ice Age Flood Museum

LaCROSSE-Representatives from LaCrosse Community Pride, Port of Whitman County, Whitman County Library, Whitman County Commissioners and The McGregor Company gathered Friday morning for the ground breaking on the project to turn the basalt rock houses into a Heritage Museum and Ice Age Floods Visitor Center. The fifteen people stood in a spread out circle as Alex McGregor gave an opening address.

"The Center will provide us the opportunity to display an extensive collection of historical exhibits and images from Whitman County Library's online County Heritage collection. It will be a remarkable show place to see and one that will build upon the growing interest we've helped generate in this special community," said McGregor, a member of LaCrosse Community Pride.

One of the basalt rock bunkhouses has already been rebuilt and holds a small collection of local history and Ice Age flood information. Now, work will begin on three more stone bunkhouses, with the expectation of the having the work on them done in about three months times, weather permitting.

The work will include the tear down and re-building of two bunkhouses and construction of a third, identical-looking bunkhouse which will serve as a restroom. The original stone will be reused in the construction of the houses with more being brought in to complete the structures.

The next phase of the project will be to convert the service station into a museum and the bunkhouses would be used for lodging, more true to their roots.

Estimated cost for work on the two bunkhouses and restroom is $115,000. To date, the project has raised $116,600 with contributions coming from the Port of Whitman County, Whitman County .09 grant, Friends of Whitman County Library, LaCrosse Community Pride, Ice Age Floods Institute-Palouse Falls Chapter, many local businesses including Bank of Eastern Washington, Startin's Repair, Ackerman Heating, Jones Truck and Implement and Avista and Steve Passmore.

Estimated cost for the service station work is $278,000. The project anticipates receiving a $130,900 grant from Heritage Capital Project Grant through the Washington State Historical Society.

The bunkhouses, service station and two homes on the other side of the street were built by LaCrosse businessman Clint Dobson between 1934 and 1936, during the Great Depression. They were constructed with local rock picked from surrounding fields. The houses were to serve as rental unit for farm works and the bunkhouses for workers on the two Union Pacific Railroad branch lines which met in town.

The effort to fix the buildings and repurpose them to benefit the town began in 2014 on the part of Peggy Bryan, then with the Whitman County Library. The property owners donated the dilapidated buildings the next year and the State Department of Revenue released a lien it held on the property, with the help of State Senator Mark Schoesler. The buildings were listed on Washington's Trust for Historic Preservation's list of Most Endangered Historic Place in 2015. The first bunkhouse was restored in 2017 and debuted in June 22, 2019, during LaCrosse's Farmer's Festival as the Ice Age Flood Museum.

McGregor noted during his opening comments that the museum and visitor center will provide a way to preserve the past and while protecting the future. He reiterated the the motto LaCrosse adopted several years ago as "the little town that could."

Jeff Johnson, who was lead builder on the first bunkhouse, will have the reins on this phase. Along with removing the rock and rebuilding, work includes excavation, plumbing and in-ground electrical.

Author Bio

Jana Mathia, Reporter

Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.

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