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14 <br />The Homestead Project <br />Funding <br />In 2010, the museum began, through purchase and donation, acquiring derelict and <br />abandoned properties on the west side of its campus (South Laurel Street). By 2019, all <br />properties needed for the proposed Homestead Site had been secured, and over $250,000 <br />had been raised for the project. Lykowski Construction, Inc., was engaged to confirm the <br />feasibility and cost of moving the cabin from Leeper Park to the museum campus, and <br />property surveys were completed. The landscape architecture firm of Lehman & Lehman <br />was engaged to develop and advise on a site plan, and the museum was awarded a grant in <br />the amount of $25,000 from Visit South Bend/Mishawaka (VSBM) to support moving the <br />structure. <br />Though most of the grant was returned after the COA denial <br />in 2020, VSBM encouraged the museum to reapply, noting the <br />funding was very likely to be awarded again should approval of a <br />future COA be granted. <br />The museum has also secured pledges from several project <br />supporters to supply the funding necessary to cover the <br />relocation expenses beyond the anticipated VSBM grant. <br />These supporters and the larger museum family are also <br />fully committed to secure the additional funding to ensure <br />the homestead site project completion within two years of <br />relocation. However, cabin related programming will begin <br />immediately following the move, with additional programming <br />added as the Homestead Site is completed. <br />It is understood that moving the cabin will result in a loss of National Register status, and it is <br />uncertain if this status will be regained. It is unfortunate that loss of status will make the cabin <br />no longer eligable for federal preservation funding. However, given that this funding has only <br />been utilized once in its nearly 30 years of eligibility and the robust fundraising to date for the <br />project, staff and board feel the museum can continue to budget for care of the cabin along <br />with its three other historic buildings, as it has for many years. <br />Students attend Cabin Days