BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — The Sarpy County Historical Society says it will be completely out of its former museum building by the end of July.
On Saturday morning, the society held a garage sale of sorts, where neighbors browsed items ranging from lightbulbs to power tools to kitchenware. Sarpy County Historical Society Board President Deb Reinard said no museum display items were for sale, with some displays visibly marked not for sale. I was told 10,000 artifacts were moved out to storage this summer.
Earlier this year, reports of mold in the building raised concerns. When asked whether items sold at Saturday's sale posed any health risks, Reinard said everything was kept in safe storage and that fans, an air purifier, and people coming in and out of the front door were sufficient precautions.
In July, I spoke with Reinard by phone about the next location for the museum. She said the property near 90th and 370 is still an option but has not been confirmed.
"Why would you buy the land without you know having the proper funding to build on it right away? Would you say that there was enough funding at the time?" I asked.
"I think during that time the people who were on the board and the community members working on the project were working hard and I don't know if it was a combination of it was still the end of COVID I don't know if that had anything to do with it but still I know they tried," Reinard said.
The museum's Facebook post had indicated neighbors could learn about the vision for the future Sarpy County Heritage Center at the sale. However, the historical society had no new information about where the heritage center would be located, instead sharing images of what it could look like in the future.
"This time we just really want to be very intentional about how we do this you know we want to have all our plans in place and make sure that there's the trust from the community," Reinard said.
The historical society also says it returned about 15 items to neighbors who had requested them back since the museum's closure.
The society's treasurer said Saturday's sale brought in about $1,500.
The current plan is to move forward with a new city-owned museum near 24th and Lincoln, with a potential update coming in August.
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