Walking into the almost fully restored, more than century-old, one-time Waukegan Public Library — that is now the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie — visitors can take a step back in time.
Meticulously restored by matching paint, using old photographs to aid the architects and craftsmen in their work, and remaking things as they were in the early 1900s, the Waukegan Historical Society’s goal was to give people an opportunity to experience what was back then.
Lori Nerheim, the historical society’s president, said part of the intent of the $15 million restoration was to give visitors a feel for the experience a young Ray Bradbury had when he spent hours there as a boy reading and nurturing the imagination which led the famed author to the writing of his books.
“We wanted to bring it back to its original look and feel,” she said of the museum operated jointly by the historical society and the Waukegan Park District. “I feel tremendous pride. I am excited to see people’s reaction.”
The historical society offered its members the first view of the nearly restored museum recently at its annual meeting in the building at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Sheridan Road.
To enter the building, visitors ascend a few steps before entering the door where they see a staircase on either side leading to two floors of permanent exhibits, and before them some steps going to the top, main floor containing a permanent exhibit honoring Bradbury as well as a room for research.
Before the building closed as the library in 1965, the room containing the Bradbury exhibit was the children’s reading room. He spent hours there in the 1920s and 1930s reading and developing his thirst for books. Nerheim said she hopes the environment will inspire future authors.
“I can see children today sitting in that room where Ray Bradbury sat as a child and reading books he read,” she said. “Perhaps they will be inspired to write or tell their own stories.”
Filling the bookcases in the Bradbury room are the author’s private collection of thousands of volumes he willed to the Waukegan Public Library when he died in 2012.
Those walking downstairs may hold a rail as it was when the museum opened, and possibly hold onto a finial for support. Nerheim said the original finials are gone, but a way was found to make them look precisely like they did more than a century ago.
“We looked at historical photos to see how they were then,” she said. “We were able to recast them from the historical photos.
“The lay light was made from pieces sliced from the original (kind of) material,” she added referring to a fixture on the ceiling. “It was meticulously done.”
From the time the Waukegan Harbor was built in the 19th century, the city became a melting pot of people coming from different parts of the country and world to work in the factories.
Those immigrants spoke a variety of languages, according to the signs next to pictures and other images. Now, Ty Rohrer — the Park District’s manager of cultural affairs, a member of the historical society and a historian by profession — said a large segment of the city’s population are Spanish-speakers. All signs describing the exhibits are in both English and Spanish.
“From the very beginning, we wanted to tell the full history and we wanted everyone in the community to be able to experience it,” he said. “We couldn’t do that without telling it in English and Spanish.”
Pictures, furniture and many other artifacts take visitors through the history of Waukegan, from prehistoric times through the present.
Marilyn Moisio, a longtime member of the historical society, said she was thrilled with the restoration. As a child and young adult, she spent time there when it was a book repository. She took advantage of its programs, like summer reading, but her best memory is very personal.
“Dennis (Moisio) and I met here in 1962,” Moisio said. “I was coming by and he was sitting right there,” she added, pointing to the spot.
As she looked at the exhibits and a building restored to something very familiar, Moisio said she liked what she saw.
“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “There is so much history here.”
With the existing Haines House Museum running out of space for the artifacts, Nerheim said library officials started looking for a new location 20 years ago and, in 2018, they started considering the Carnegie. It could become much more than a museum.
“The new museum location would be a destination and provide an integral presence downtown that is accessible for all to better serve our community,” she said. “We could save this iconic building, provide a sustainable end use for the benefit of generations to come and be a catalyst for downtown development.”
When an anonymous donor offered $5 million, Nerheim said restoring the Carnagie became a reality. Restorative architects were hired, and plans were made to restore it to its original state.
Nerheim said some items are still waiting to be moved into the Carnegie, and some other tweaking will be necessary. She is hoping for a late spring opening.
