What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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8 WHAT'S UP! DECEMBER 9-15, 2018 Everything Old Is New Again Rogers Historical Museum ready for its closeup BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette I t takes a village to collect, preserve and present the history of a village — especially one that boasts the long, varied and ever-changing dynamics of the city of Rogers. In the last year, citizens of that village — paid and unpaid, corporate and private, artisans, historians, architects, builders, forklift drivers and more — have worked to renovate a 1947 building; move, redesign, revamp and repurpose exhibits; and create a new Rogers Historical Museum that is accessible in every sense of the word. All of that work comes to fruition on Dec. 13, when the museum reopens in its new home in the Hailey Ford Building at 313 S. Second St. in Rogers. "We couldn't have done it without so many hands, so many different skills and talents," says John Burroughs, the museum's director, pausing during a walk-through to consult with Richard Calloway, curator of exhibits. Calloway is in the process of hanging images of important Rogers citizens — Erwin Funk, Betty Blake, Louise Thaden — in a storefront remembering Stroud's Mercantile, which, when it closed in 1993, was the oldest continuously operated privately owned retail business in the state. Burroughs returns from the conversation covered in sawdust; he had to stop and drill some holes. And that says everything about the last year for the museum's staff: Everybody has done everything they could — and when they couldn't, they called in experts to help. Former director Gaye Bland, for example, jumped in to do research and write exhibit cards. Sam Syzdek of Mulberry created what Burroughs calls the "best COVER STORY FAQ Rogers Historical Museum Grand Reopening WHEN — 10:30 a.m. Dec. 13 WHERE — The restored Hailey Ford building, 313 S. Second St. in Rogers COST — Free INFO — 621-1154 BONUS — Remarks by city officials will be followed by a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK The restoration of the Hailey Ford building as the new home of the Rogers Historical Museum included the re-creation of the curved glass showroom.