Marble Falls museum adds door work to upgrades
Water seepage has damaged both the front (shown here) and back entries to The Falls on the Colorado Museum, 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls. The museum is seeking donations to help replace both doors. Courtesy photos
Renovations are nearing completion at The Falls on the Colorado Museum in Marble Falls, leaving most of the 138-year-old granite building strong, solid, and in full use. The second floor is due to open for the first time since 2010. What doesn’t look so good or stable are the front and back entryways, including the doors and the massive frames around them.
“The Old Granite School is being returned to almost its full glory, which makes the cracks and wood rot on the doors and their surrounding frames more visible, detracting from the beauty of the building,” said Darlene Oostermeyer, chair of the museum’s Board of Directors, in a recent media release about the renovations.
Donations are needed to put the finishing touches on the museum, which recently had a $500,000 facelift. The Marble Falls Independent School District, which owns the building, provided $250,000 to shore up the museum. This will allow the second floor to open for exhibits soon.
The Falls on the Colorado raised an additional $250,000 to replace all of the windows on both floors and return the upstairs windows to their original look.
“The donations we have received show how much this building means to this community,” Oostermeyer said. “It’s amazing the amount of support it has received so far.”
As work continued on the rest of the building, the entryways began to show their age.
“The front and back doorways are the very face of the building,” Oostermeyer said. “They are the entrance and a first impression on visitors. When you try to open them and they stick and shake, that’s not a good first impression.”
The north- and south-facing double doors have weathered over decades of holding back the elements. Poor drainage has rotted away some of the wood in the doors and frames.
“Whenever it rains, the doors swell up and we have to kick them to get them open,” said Robyn Richter, one of the many docents who volunteer to staff the museum during open hours.
A recent renovation fixed the leaking problem, but the work to strengthen and realign the walls compromised the door frames.
“The entire units on both the front and back need to be replaced,” Oostermeyer said. “The integrity of the frames and thresholds have been negatively affected through the years.”
The museum board is asking for donations to help replace both the front and back entrances to the building. Checks may be mailed to The Falls on the Colorado Museum, P.O. Box 1333, Marble Falls, TX 78654.
“Or, you can drop a donation off at the museum,” Oostermeyer said. “Please help us fund the final piece of this magnificent renovation that the school district so generously started. Help save Marble Falls history.”
The Falls on the Colorado Museum is located at 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls. Hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, visit fallsmuseum.org or email focmuseumchair@gmail.com.