The Little Museum That Could

from this week’s newspaper:

The caboose is leaking.

It’s just a hair above freezing, the wind blowing hard enough to shake this little red train car. There are a few puddles inside, as tarps strapped to the outside aren’t completely patching some holes caused by a bigger wind storm.

Yes, this little old caboose has seen better times . . . 

And will again.

This, fittingly for several reasons, is the physical place holder for the Museum of the North Beach’s “Depot Project.” For years, the caboose had been used as a nightly rental, until the owners donated it to the museum.

Things like this just seem to keep falling into the museum’s collective lap.

Through a combination of kismet and tenacious work, the Museum of the North Beach recently announced it had met its seemingly insurmountable goal: qualifying for a Federal Highway Administration grant, by raising $130,000, or 20 percent of the project.

Not only did founders Lee Marriott, Kathy Jaquet, Kelly Calhoun and their team of dedicated volunteers meet that goal, they roared past it, coming in at over $240,000 in monetary and “in-kind” pledges.

The pledges meet criteria for a grant from the Federal Highway Administration (Scenic Byway Discretionary Fund) to rebuild the historic depot.

The total cost of the project, including construction management, engineering design, the museum building, exhibit installation and property lease now comes in at $971,010. As stated in the grant, “The new facility will have the look and feel of the historic Moclips Depot, and provide a permanent home for the museum’s outstanding collection of local historic artifacts.” 

Lee Marriott came to the North Beach from Idaho, and soon was facing a stampeding freight train.

“My partner Kelly Calhoun, a good friend, Kathy Jaquet, and I started Moclips-by-the-Sea Historical Society and the Museum of the North Beach evolved from that. Why did I get involved? It just happened, and I was one of the bystanders.

“It was either get involved or get run over by a force of nature.”

The three founded Moclips-by-the-Sea Historical Society (MBTS) in 2001. In 2002, Ocean Crest Resort donated an old grocery store/gas station, and in January of 2003, the Museum of the North Beach opened for business, on the east side of State Route 109, just north of Ocean Crest.

The founders have long had in mind a depot theme, going back to the days when the roads to the coast were  primitive, and visitors came here by rails. The original Northern Pacific Railway Depot was built in Moclips in 1905; train service to the beach was a flourishing proposition in the early part of the century, until roads were built to accommodate more and more folks with their automobiles.

The rail line became freight-only, and the abandoned depot was torn down in the late 1950’s.

A half-century later, the museum founders plotted how to bring the depot back, scheming away in the temporary museum home.

They started meeting with the Washington State Parks Commission, which agreed to hold the space at 4th and Railroad Avenue in Moclips. An agreement was signed in 2007, giving the MBTS five years to come up with funding for the depot.

Now all they needed was a million dollars, give or take.

Calhoun and Marriott started brainstorming with the State Route 109 Scenic Byway project, heard about the Federal highway/byways grant, and set about tapping into the community, from Ocean Shores to Taholah.

When the call for grants went out in December,  the MBTS kicked into high gear, realizing they had just a few months to raise tens of thousands of dollars in cash, material donations, services etc.

The $240,000 question: How in the world did they do it?

Even Calhoun, who has deep roots in the North Beach (“my great, great, great uncle Dale Northup lived in Moclips”) and a burning passion for local history, had his doubts.

“To be honest,” says the excitable Calhoun, who reminds one of a mid-career Dustin Hoffman, “I really thought we had little chance of reaching the $130,000 in matching and in-kind pledges.  The call for this grant came in the middle of December, right before the holidays, during very nasty and destructive winter weather and after the financial difficulties that so many Americans were experiencing. Although with the current economic situation, for some reason, the museum manages to thrive. Our visitor count continues to climb on a monthly and yearly basis. This historical society is very fortunate to have such supportive members and support from the general public within our communities.  

“I am really surprised that we not only met this goal but overwhelmingly exceeded it.”

Calm and cool, like a mellow Clint Eastwood, Marriott says he never had doubts:

“I knew that we had the level of support we need to get this depot built . . . Like I said before, this is a force of nature, nothing can stop it.”

County Commissioner Al Carter has been on board the project for years.

“The restoration of the Depot as a destination stop and the museum showing the rich history of the North Beach will be one more reason to come and stay in Grays Harbor,” said Carter.

“This has truly been a grass roots fund raising effort and we support it wholeheartedly and look forward to breaking ground.”

And now what?

“It’s now hurry up and wait,” says Calhoun. “The grant process is out of our hands and we are at the mercy of others for approval. We expect to hear some news within six months or so. I personally would like to see ground-breaking by the end of this year. If the grant is approved, then the real work begins. Not only with all the construction details, but the packing and moving of so many artifacts and other items from the current museum and in storage into the new building. This in itself will be a very big project.”  

And the little caboose would remain, to be refurbished as part of what could be the biggest thing ever to hit Moclips.

The main word in that last sentence is “could.” The coming months will show whether this dream train has a stop in reality.  

Says Marriott: “All we can do is what we’ve done from the beginning – believe in the force.”

The Museum of the North Beach, 4658 State Route 109 in Moclips, is open Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Beginning May 1, it goes to summer hours, Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

Admission is free. 

For more information, visit moclips.org or call 276-4441.