New exhibition area coming to Monessen historical society

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com

The Greater Monessen Historical Society is making strides to ensure current and former city residents, as well as visitors to the historic steel town, have a chance to learn Monessen’s history.
Construction is currently underway on the GMHS’ new exhibition area on the first floor of the former Milsom/Endicott Johnson Building. Located at 501 Donner Ave., the building is now referred to as the Annex Building and is next door to the Monessen Heritage Museum.
Construction for the project, designed by architect and engineer Robert Lettrich of Charleroi, is moving along nicely, according to GMHS board member Ginny Fisfis, who said a direct access doorway is currently being constructed between the first floor of the Annex and the current Heritage Museum.
Fisfis, who is a Monessen native that now lives in Bethel Park, said a large exhibition space will be constructed on the first floor of the Annex Building to serve as the Heritage Museum’s main gallery.
The space will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.
“For GMHS, it means greatly increasing our exhibition area so that we can display much more of our very large archival collection, now stored in the upper floors of the current museum building,” Fisfis said. “We have an extensive collection in our archives of the history of Monessen and there’s no way we can even display even significant part of it in our current museum space.
“We’ll be creating what gives you a history of Monessen. Visitors will be able to come in and see how it is that the town was created. The business, the industry, the people, the culture and that sort of thing will be on display.”
“Visitors will learn about the fascinating cultures of the proud residents and hard-working immigrants who arrived from foreign countries seeking a better life in America,”she said.
Construction may be underway, but Fisfis said GMHS is still raising funds for the project.
“Through determined fundraising efforts, and generous donors, GMHS has raised $125,000 of the $175,000 needed to complete the remodeling. In an effort to raise the final $50,000, GMHS is calling on others to join in,” she said. “All donations, small and large, are welcome at GMHS, 505 Donner Ave.”
She said renovating the Annex Building is an attempt by GMHS “to join with other community minded individuals and groups working to revitalize the Monessen downtown area.”
Fisfis said the board is seeking grant funding in addition to taking donations, and is grateful to the many donors who have already contributed to the project.
“There are a lot of former Monessen people who no longer live in the area. They’re faithful members and they do support us,” Fisfis said. “They’re in all parts of the United States. It’s phenomenal.
“The dedication they have and their memories of the city and how they loved growing up here is phenomenal. … The historical society and the museum is their attachment to the place they loved growing up in.”
She said the board is especially grateful to the late George Christy, a former Monessen resident and longtime Hollywood gossip columnist for the Hollywood Reporter who left $10,000 in his will to the GMHS for the project. Christi died in Santa Monica, Calif. on Aug. 11, 2020. He was 93.
“George Christy would always write professional notes of encouragement saying things like ‘Keep up the good work,’” Fisfis said. “He left us $10,000 in his will.”
The board hopes construction will be completed in the spring.
“Then we have the challenge of what are the exhibits? How are they going to be set up? And that kind of thing, because we are not experts in that sort of thing,” she said. “We’re all volunteers. We have a very dedicated museum manager (Vernon Nelson) who is just an amazing guy who keeps the archives in order and organized and stored properly.”
She said a date hasn’t been set for when the new exhibition space will be opened to the public.
Though volunteers are coming in a few days a week for administrative work, GMHS is currently closed to the public due to construction. Fisfis hopes the museum will reopen in the spring.
Looking toward the future, a second project is on the back burner in the Annex Building.
“Few people know that an unsolved mystery came along with ownership of the Annex Building,” Fisfis said. “What was found in the basement raises many questions: ‘Why does the basement have a fancy black and white ceramic tile floor? Why was a floral design painted on the now crumbling ceiling plaster? Why are there two sets of stairs leading from the front sidewalk? Why is there a ceramic fountain in the middle of the basement room? Was this an illegal, high-class drinking/dining place during Prohibition?’”
She said GMHS hopes to learn answers to those questions in the near future.
“The sad news is that answers are not known to any of these questions,” she said. “GMHS is determined to find the answers. Grant funding will be sought in order to research and partially restore the mysterious basement so that it will be safe for visitors to see.”
Meanwhile, GMHS is asking members of the community to become involved and to stay tuned, Fisfis said.
To learn more, or to learn how to donate, go to monessenhistoricalsociety.com or the Greater Monessen Historical Society Facebook page.