MOVING HISTORY FORWARD…To Our New Home

Currently, The Museum of North Idaho occupies a 4,371 square foot building that is scheduled for demolition. After 40 years in the same facility, The Museum collection has grown and the space is too small to house exhibits, artifacts, photographs, archives, and staff.

Wonderful artifacts and artwork, which should be on exhibit, are locked away in an off-site storage building due to lack of space. Since our current building has insufficient space to fit our growing needs, our long-term ability to disseminate historic knowledge through educational programming and outreach hinges upon having a new facility.

The current Museum does not have heat, forcing us to close to the public during the cold winter months (November-March) in Northern Idaho.

The Museum of North Idaho is planning to construct a new expanded 11,500 sq. ft. facility to house exhibits, art, and educational resources.

The new, expanded facility will include climate-controlled spaces that conform with modern museum standards for artifact preservation.

A new building allows us the opportunity to bring together stakeholders to participate in creating exhibits that identify and represent the culture and history of our three-county region (the Coeur d'Alene Region) to the residents, both new and old, as well as tourists who make up about 40% of our visitors.

What Museums Provide Our Community

The Museum of North Idaho collects, displays and interprets the material culture of our community. From this project future programming will help newcomers and long-time residents gain an understanding of our history and how knowing this history can help shape a brighter future.

Economic Driver: MNI creates a vibrant economy by attracting outside investment and driving tourism. The Moving History Forward Project site is close to the heart of Coeur d’Alene. MNI has an opportunity to establish ourselves as an anchor in the community and as keepers of our area’s stories that reflect our rich culture and heritage.

Educational Asset: MNI collaborates with regional educational institutions. The new museum will create learning experiences that engage visitors and provide tools for communication. Through the language of the artifacts displayed, we find a common understanding of our history and the cultures that shaped it.

Civic Catalyst: MNI helps define our civic identity. The core of our mission is for curators and stake holders to construct exhibits tailored to learning. It’s this knowledge and meaning that creates ongoing dialog and inspires visitors to create a positive change in our communities.

Bridges Between Cultures: MNI exhibits ensure a deeper understanding and fosters an appreciation for various groups and cultures. Through better understanding of our collective heritage, we can better understand ourselves. The new museum will also serve future generations to comprehend their history and the achievements of those who came before them.

Develop Spaces Where Everyone Feels They Can Belong and Participate: MNI strives to create a rich learning experience for individuals of all backgrounds, so that visitors leave with a sense of themselves in the story of creating a positive future. A museum should be accessible to all. Programming in an ADA-compliant building allows all to participate. A larger space will allow MNI to partner with local universities, native tribes and arts organizations to produce relevant programming.

A New Museum Location

We have secured a long-term lease with the City of Coeur d'Alene on land near 8th and Young, South of City Hall, where we will build the new museum. The land was made possible through collaborative efforts with the City, ignite cda, the Tubbs Hill Foundation and the Museum. The recently moved J.C. White House will be open for public use with a regional history library and serve as the centerpiece for the new museum.

Our goal is to raise $4 Million for the renovation of the White House, and construction of the east lower level, which will provide a total 11,500 sq ft.

In the New Museum Visitors Will Experience...

Dynamic and interactive exhibit spaces and outdoor gathering spaces with the overarching theme of water, including:

Schitsu’umsh, “The People Who Were Discovered Here”
A new, interactive Lake Coeur d’Alene Interpretive Exhibit
How the Great Flood and geology shaped and influenced our history
The Spokane Valley- Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer
Coeur d'Alene , Saint Joe, and Spokane Rivers
Timber and mining Industries
How railroads, steamboats, and roads shaped our region
The history of the families that built their lives here
A new Tubbs Hill Interpretive walk
A Rooftop Plaza
A regional history library with access to thousands of original documents and books that have been in storage, and over 36,000 photographs
Meeting space for lectures and educational activities

In the new exhibit hall, The Museum of North Idaho will be utilizing modern, interactive exhibit technology that creates an immersive experience. The visitor will feel like they are part of history, not just viewing panels on a wall. The exhibits will also be multimodal and inclusive, so everyone who visits the museum, regardless of background, age, or ability level, will be able to have an engaging experience.

North Idaho is connected by a system of lakes, rivers and aquifer, which determined the people and industries that settled here. The connecting force of water has shaped our past and impacted our present and future.

Upon entry into the new exhibit hall, visitors will be greeted with a bold graphic and text introducing a multifaceted experience of North Idaho. A dramatic quote about the importance of water in shaping life in the region will invite visitors to follow a path along the floor.

The first exhibit is an overview of the geology and geography of North Idaho’s waterways. A large map of the Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Aquifer on an exhibit wall with glass elements and twinkling lighting effects creates a sense of moving water. A stratigraphic wall provides an interpretation of how the aquifer and waterways formed.

Once visitors understand the place, they can discover human history. The exhibits are rich with artifacts that connect to engaging stories of the human experience. The waterways path takes visitors to a vignette, in which the Coeur d’Alene Tribe tell origin stories in graphics, audio, and video. Displays feature prehistoric, historical, and contemporary artifacts that demonstrate the lasting presence of tribal members on the land.

The waterways path leads visitors to an exhibit that introduces the story of the Americans and Europeans who moved West in search of economic opportunity. A series of exhibit vignettes with dramatic backgrounds, dimensional elements, and macro artifact displays interpret the development of new industries such as logging, sawmilling, and mining. An exhibit vignette includes a wood structure mimicking a mine tunnel complete with a rail car. With ambient sounds and smells, the highly tactile exhibit gives visitors the sense of being underground.

Leaving the mine, visitors come to a simulated fire lookout station. The multimedia experience gives visitors the impression of the work of a fire spotter. Overhead, a drone prop emphasizes the new technologies firefighters rely on today. Rail graphics highlight big fires of times past, the experiences of spotters and smoke jumpers, and modern trends in firefighting.

A central exhibit provides an augmented reality-enhanced topographic map. Visitors can use their smartphones and tablets to find feature photographs, short videos, and oral history. This encourages visitors to look back in time and compare with views of today. Historical and contemporary artifacts are juxtaposed, encouraging visitors to draw parallels between the past and the present.

Nearby, visitors can use hand motions to navigate a touchless video screen that simulates a steamboat captain’s view of the waterways. Visitors can “take the wheel” of a reproduction steamboat wheel and explore nearby waterways as facts pop up on the screen.

The adjacent Gallery Area is for internally produced temporary exhibits and externally produced traveling exhibits to be brought to the Coeur d’Alene community, allowing MNI to be a premiere museum by having a wide variety of exhibits on display.

Naming Rights J.C. White House

WHITE HOUSE NAMING OPPORTUNITIES (Scroll down for renderings)

~ RESERVED The J.C. White House Wraparound Porch is as iconic as the house and as J.C. White himself.

(3 sides) $75,000

~RESERVED The Expanded Museum Gift Shop on the Main Level are open to the public and provide unique gifting opportunities for researchers, history enthusiasts, and art lovers.

(408 Sq. Ft.) $100,000

~ RESERVED The Welcome Center and Bookstore is highly visible on the Main Level and will be an elegant setting in which to greet our guests. A small exhibit on J.C. White and the history of the museum will be presented. The MNI Book Store features a wide range of local historic titles for purchase.

(660 Sq. Ft.) $150,000

Secure Office Space for the bookkeeper, with light storage.

(45 Sq. Ft.) $10,000

Storage Space with items for the book store and Gift Shop.

(73 Sq. Ft.) $15,000

Beautiful Spiral Staircase from the Lower Level to the 2nd Floor.

$100,000

Women's and Men's Rooms both equipped with changing tables.

(135 Sq. Ft.) $35,000/ each

Study Area on the 2^nd Floor will feature space for community groups and school classes to run programs and two computer research terminals. (292 Sq. Ft.) $60,000

~RESERVED South Facing Reading Nook Reading nook with a view of Tubbs Hill on the 2^nd Floor in the study area.

$10,000

~RESERVED North Facing Reading Nook Reading nook with a view of McEuen Park and Front Street on the 2^nd Floor in the history library.

$10,000

~RESERVED Executive Director's Office on the 2^nd Floor next to the history library and study area.

(135 Sq. Ft.) $30,000

~RESERVED The History and Research Library on the 2^nd Floor will house the Region’s Largest Repository of historic books, manuscripts, ephemera, and printed materials on local history in North Idaho. Researchers will have access to these archives as well as 36,300 historic photographic images.

(450 Sq. Ft.) $100,000

~RESERVED The Conference/ Meeting Space on the 2^nd floor is available for public use. Surrounded by windows, adjacent to the library, this peaceful setting is the perfect backdrop for lectures and meetings.

(294 Sq. Ft.) $100,000

Administrative Office Suite The 3^rd floor has office space for staff with elevator access.

(469 Sq. Ft.) $60,000

Breakroom The 3^rd floor also has the only breakroom for all staff and volunteers.

(49 Sq. Ft.) $15,000

Naming Rights Exhibit Hall, Lower Level & Exterior Site

Naming Rights for the Exhibit Hall, Lower Level, and Exterior Site (Scroll down for renderings)

Tubbs Hill Entrance is the entry point into the museum from the parking lot, which includes field trip bus drop off and pick up.

(1200 Sq. Ft.) $250,000

Rooftop Plaza above the exhibit hall on the east side. The rooftop plaza is a public gathering space.

(3835 Sq. Ft.) $750,000

The Exhibit Hall features all new, permanent exhibits. These new exhibits will use state-of-the-art technologies to create interactive experiences. The New Lake Coeur d’Alene Interpretive Exhibit will be a sensory experience.

(3,835 Sq. Ft.) $1M

Gallery Space will feature traveling exhibitions.

(647 Sq. Ft.) $150,000

Lobby is the entryway into the new exhibit hall.

(258 Sq. Ft.) $75,000

Archival/ Work Spaces This space is a humidity controlled environment with fire suppression systems to protect our collections. Staff and volunteers will properly archive new acquisitions in this space as well.

(1142 Sq. Ft.) $350,000

Elevator connects the Lower Level exhibit hall to the main level, 2nd floor, and 3rd floor.

$100,000

Elevator Lobby connects the elevator to the Gallery space and the loading zone.

(112 Sq. Ft.) $50,000

Utility Room powers the building year-round.

(138 Sq. Ft.) $25,000

Loading Zone next to the elevator and with a direct path to the Gallery and Exhibit Hall, this loading zone supports MNI's ability to show traveling exhibits.

(136 Sq. Ft.) $25,000

Family Bathroom is the only bathroom on the lower level by the exhibit hall.

(65 Sq. Ft.) $20,000

Site Development includes ADA grading to the site, paving of the parking lot, landscaping with local flora/fauna and the placement of the Big Hank Smoker's Cabin.

$750,000