Tim Walker
AMR Reporter
The Upper Pocahontas Community Coalition (UPCC) met February 12 at the Durbin Library to discuss the fate of the old Howes Tannery office building in Frank.
At its February 6 meeting, the Pocahontas County Commission gave the UPCC and a group of former Howes Leather employees – who had worked in the building and are still emotionally attached to it – until April to find a useful and self-sustaining purpose for it.
Otherwise, the commission has considered demolishing the building as part of its plan to clean-up the entire tannery site, with the end goal of establishing new industrial businesses there.
The office building has water damage due to a leaking roof, repairs of which could be expensive.
Since Fall of 2020, the UPCC has been considering options to use the building, including creating a leather tanning museum on the first floor, but, to date, nothing has come of those discussions. Now, with the commission’s April deadline approaching, the February 12 UPCC meeting was held to restart the efforts to find a viable purpose for the building.
Nine people attended the meeting, including County Commissioner John Rebinski.
Judy Fuller pointed out that she had collected information which indicated that utility bills for operating the building as a museum could run upwards of $600 to $800 a month.
Sam Knieri, an AmeriCorps member working on historical projects for the U.S. Forrest Service, pointed out that there could be a need for a tannery industry museum because Howes Leather was the largest maker of combat boot soles during World War II, and there are no museums anywhere in the U.S. dedicated to the tanning industry. He also said there are grants and micro-loans available if the building could be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and AmeriCorps could possibly help out with labor for the project. He suggested that the UPCC compile as much historical information about the building as possible in the next two weeks.
Joanne Gilardi said that the first step should be to come up with a business plan for the museum, but a good business plan requires that a start-up business have enough money in advance to pay for one-year’s utility bills and repairs.
Other questions identified during the meeting, which need to be answered before moving forward were:
• Is it even feasible to start a museum or other business there?
• Would it be possible to connect a museum to the tourism railroad in Durbin, perhaps by a shuttle bus?
• What is the condition of the existing electrical system including the wiring in the building?
• Can a museum be financially viable, perhaps by selling books and having an admission fee?
Most of the people at the meeting agreed the first priority should be coming up with a business plan and answering those questions. It was agreed that a smaller committee of three or four people should meet weekly to try and do that.