Possibly Picking Up Again
Museum, Zalud looking at possibly opening Those places, temporary library can open at limited capacity
Two local historic treasures in Porterville that have had to remain closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic can now finally look at possibly opening again at least at a limited capacity.
Now that Tulare County has entered the red tier, the Porterville Historical Museum and Zalud House can open at limited capacity. Places like the museum and Zalud House can open at 25 percent capacity in the red tier.
Porterville Historical Museum Treasurer Susan Uptain said the museum’s board will meet to discuss when the museum will reopen. “I’m sure we’ll be opening soon but we don’t have a date, yet,” she said.
Uptain said the museum should again be offering outdoor events soon as well, although no dates have been set for those either. Events the museum would like to hold soon include the unveiling of the 1918 Smith’s Truck and a lecture presented by longtime local historian Bill Horst.
And thanks to generous donations from those such as longtime museum supporters Dean Craig of Porterville Electric and Dr. Don Stover, the facility to house the Smith’s Truck, other vehicles such as vintage fire engines and treasured historic materials, is near completion and will be fireproof.
Through Craig’s contribution, a ceiling can be placed on the facility and Craig is donating the electrical work for the facility as well. Art Chiapa of Chiapa Welding has provided work for the facility as well.
The Bank of the Sierra donated $2,000 for the Smith’s Truck exhibit and donated $2,500 to digitize a considerable collection from longtime Porterville historian Jeff Edwards. Stan Edwards matched that donation that allows the digitization to be completed.
Edwards died last week at the age of 98. One of the blessings of the museum’s closure is the board has been able to focus on a number of projects, including the digitization of Edwards’ collection. “The board has been working like crazy on all the projects,” she said. “We’re digitizing like crazy.”
Uptain said there must be 10,000 slides from Edwards collection that are housed in six fireproof filing cabinets. “He had amazing photographs,” she said.
While Edwards has his own room for his collection to be stored, Uptain said some of his collection will be stored in the facility in which the Smith’s Truck and other vehicles will be stored. Also stored there will be a considerable collection of bound volumes of Porterville Recorder newspapers donated to the museum by Ted Ensslin.
And microfilm of Porterville Recorder editions that go back to the newspaper’s beginning in 1908 saved from the February 18, 2020 fire that destroyed the Porterville Public Library will also be stored in the facility, Uptain said. Uptain said the microfilm was contained in a metal cabinet and survived the fire. She said there are 700 roles of the Recorder microfilm.
Uptain said the community has come through for the museum during the past year. “The community has been real supportive,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without them.”
ZALUD HOUSE AND LIBRARY
As far as the Zalud House, the City of Porterville’s COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee is meeting today and will discuss when the historical house can potentially open.
The City hopes to be able to open its temporary library adjacent to Grocery Outlet in May. As it stands now with Tulare County in the red tier, staff would be able to open the library to the public at 50 percent capacity.