Old Cowtown Museum to reconstruct old business to showcase buggies, wagons
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) -- The Old Cowtown Museum is planning to reconstruct an old business to showcase what it is calling its "rolling stock."
"This is a really unique part of the collection that includes buggies, wagons, and currently, they lack adequate storage space, and they've actually never been on display to the public because of this," the City of Wichita Director of Arts and Cultural Services Lindsay Benacka said.
A $250,000 donation from Historic Cowtown Inc.'s Board of Directors and Bob Curtright, a former movie critic for The Wichita Eagle, is allowing the reconstruction to happen, according to District 5 Council Member Bryan Frye.
"The proposed new donation will provide a solution to safely store and display the rolling stock collection and further advance the museum's mission," said Benacka.
The museum started working on designing the exhibit in 2018.
The name of the former local business that the Museum is reconstructing is Wichita Carriage Works.
"The Wichita Carriage Works was open in 1884, which is fitting with the timeline that Cowtown currently seeks to reenact and reenvision," Benacka said. "It was quite a large facility, two stories. The one that's being proposed is not quite as large, but it's modeled with this in mind."
It will be built across the Livery Stable and the Veterinarian's office.