Tahoe Maritime Museum closes on Tahoe City property to expand offerings
mmoran@sierrasun.com
Margaret Moran / Sierra Sun |
More online
Visit tahoemaritimemuseum.org to learn more about Tahoe Maritime Museum and to receive updates.
TAHOE CITY, Calif. — A deal between Tahoe Maritime Museum and Tahoe Tree Company recently went through, marking the museum’s first step toward its goal of establishing a long-term campus.
The Homewood-based nonprofit museum closed escrow on Tahoe Tree Company’s former 10-acre property and 6,400-square-foot lodge building at 401 West Lake Blvd. in Tahoe City on Oct. 15.
“We’re excited for this new phase for the museum, being in Tahoe City and all the opportunities that the new property will provide,” said Lora Nadolski, executive director of Tahoe Maritime Museum.
According to the Placer County Clerk Recorder Office, the property sold for $4.7 million.
Moving forward, minor modifications are being made to the property, Nadolski said, to accommodate museum offices and a new winter exhibit titled “Where the Anchor Lands.”
Starting Nov. 27, the exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. a few days a week — days have yet to be determined — until the end of April.
Meanwhile, the museum will keep its Homewood exhibit, “Racing Tahoe,” available for public viewing from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends through April 1, 2016, or until the Homewood facility sells, whichever comes first.
The museum’s 5,778-square-foot building, 0.41-acre lot location at 5205 West Lake Blvd. in Homewood is on the market, listed by Chase International at nearly $4 million.
Sale of the Homewood facility will go toward payment of a loan the nonprofit museum took out to purchase the former Tahoe Tree Company building and lot, Nadolski said.
To finance its Tahoe City campus, the museum will launch a public capital campaign effort, which will be devised this winter, she said. In addition, the museum will apply for local, state and federal grants to raise campus funds.
Further work on campus planning and design will occur this winter, with project review and approval aimed for next spring and summer, Nadolski said.
The campus is envisioned to include historical and art exhibition galleries, classroom and community meeting spaces, a boat restoration building, a collection storage facility, and outdoor maritime sculptural gardens.
Build-out of the campus is anticipated to take years, Nadolski said, with the goal of starting construction in 2017.
The museum’s facilities are currently split, with its gallery and offices in Homewood, and its collection of more than 30 vessels, artifacts and archival materials stored in a Reno warehouse, the lease of which is up for renewal in September 2017.
“One location is much easier to manage,” Nadolski said previously. “… For us it actually ends up making it so we can offer much more to the public when they come into the museum because it’s not just one gallery, so there’s going to be a lot more for them to see and do here.”
Other businesses that have resided at 401 West Lake Blvd. — such as Green Envy Landscaping, McBride’s Landscaping, Mountain Magic Catering and Tahoe Tree Company — will remain on site, according to the museum.
A lease for each business is either being drawn up or already in place, Nadolski said.
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Lake Tahoe, Truckee, and beyond make the Sierra Sun's work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Your donation will help us continue to cover COVID-19 and our other vital local news.