For two mature ladies to dream of transforming a full city block
of old commercial / industrial properties
into a beautiful cultural center containing a museum of history, a center for cultural arts programs,
a genealogical and historical research library, a community meeting place and an art gallery is the type
of challenge that might have given pause to Quixote, but not Beula and Christeen! It took almost the last
decade of their lives to do all the preliminary work and lay the foundation on which their dream could
be built. But they did it! Everything is now falling into place.
The dream did not actually originate with them; rather it was sort of passed on to them.
It was a case of their being at the right place, at the right time, with the right combination
of talent, skills, intelligence, gall and persistence, plus a whole lot of luck that enabled them
to pick up somebody else's dream, become totally immersed in it, and carry it toward a felicitous
fulfillment.
Credit for the dream goes to historians and genealogists
Vivian Rousseau and Marion Vance. They were the proponents of a plan to have a small museum in Glasgow
with a repository for historical and genealogical materials and memorabilia. They presented their idea
to the Chamber of Commerce back in the late 1970's, but the idea didn't take off. In fact, it lay almost
dormant until 1987 when it was revived by a larger group of history enthusiasts, genealogists and
preservationists.
This group of 17 established the Barren County Historical Foundation, Inc., with broader objectives
than those of Mrs. Rousseau and Mr. Vance. They proposed also the acquisition of historic structures
in the community by purchase or donation to preserve them as part of the heritage of this area of the
state. The names of the 17 incorporators of this Foundation are as follows: Woodford L. Gardner, Jr.,
Shelley T. Riherd, Charles B. Honeycutt, Beula C. Nunn, Edward B. Hatchett, Jr., James M. Simmons,
J. B. Galloway, Bernard Williams, Vivian Rousseau, C. C. Howard Gray, Frances Young Jones, Cecil E. Goode,
Sarah Bowers, Christeen Snavely and Katie Maud Smith.
Sarah Bowers, Cecil Goode and Pete Leech were the committee
charged with locating a suitable site for a museum. They examined three historic sites in the following order:
(1) the house now known as the Hall Place, (2) the Annie Gorin residence on West Washington Street,
and (3) property adjacent to Fort Williams. For a variety of reasons none of the three was finally
determined to meet all the requirements for the location of the Museum of the Barrens.
In June of 1988, after the resignation of the Foundation's
first president, Ed Hatchett, Beula Nunn, vice president, acting on behalf of the Foundation,
performed a few maneuvers which, like a series of railroad track switches clicking in proper sequence,
resulted in the very rapid financial solvency of the Foundation. At one point Beula bought the old
National Store Building, and the Museum was temporarily housed there. She later sold that building
at cost to the City of Glasgow for a new City Hall. In turn, she then purchased from the bankrupt
Washington Manufacturing Co., for the sum of $95,000, the city block of property bounded by
North Race Street, West Main Street, North Liberty Street and West Water Street, with the
exception of the buildings occupied by the J. C. Penney Co. and the Riherd Sport Shop.
A bad winter storm caused water pipes within the Pants Factory to freeze and burst,
resulting in sufficient damage to enable $130,000 to be collected in insurance. Beula
later bought the building occupied by the J. C. Penney Co. for $52,000.
At this point, the Foundation owned the entire
city block with the exception of the Riherd Store building. Three newly acquired buildings
on West Main Street were soon remodeled: one as a temporary site for the Museum, and two
as income-producing rental property. In the meantime, the revenue from The Thrift Shop and
the rent from the J. C. Penney Co. were producing funds for the work of the Museum and the
salary of one employee, a secretary.
Everything was moving along fairly rapidly
except the grant process. Beula and Christeen
would have preferred that the total financial support for the Foundation's project come
through broadbased donations by individuals and organizations within the area served by
the Museum of the Barrens. When such funding proved to be inadequate, Beula and Christeen,
undaunted, turned to the grant process for help. This slowed the development of the Museum
because of the red tape involved in complying with the numerous regulations and special
requirements, but in finally resulted in providing the Foundation with the funds to do a
proper remodeling of the Pants Factory.
Thanks to the valuable assistance of Bernard Williams,
an official with the Wilkinson administration and one of the Foundation's incorporators,
it was possible to secure a Community Block Grant of $225,000 for the initial "basic"
remodeling of the Pants Factory. A few years later, at the suggestion of her good friend
Mrs. Brereton Jones, Beula applied for an ISTEA (Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act)
grant, which she received, in the amount of $400,000 for the further refitting of the Pants Factory.
It was at this time that the name and the scope of the Foundation changed from being The Museum of
the Barrens to the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center with enlarged focus. The Foundation also
received a bequest from the Donald Boles estate in the amount of $200,000. These grants and the bequest,
along with hundreds of smaller donations by individuals and organizations, have put the Foundation on a
footing strong enough that it can now proceed toward the complete conversion of the old factory to the
Cultural Center.
At Beula's side during these years of activity connected
with developing the Cultural Center was her devoted, energetic assistant and confidante, Christeen
Snavely. These two dynamic ladies, of dissimilar temperaments but bound by a common goal, developed
a mutual symbiotic relationship - an association which, with the onset of serious health problems,
proved to be not only advantageous but necessary to both.
Because of their hard work and tireless devotion to the
task of developing the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center, they were pivotal players in the
Foundation. Other board members generally deferred to the wishes of Beula and Christeen. There was a
tacit understanding that since Beula and Christeen were either doing or supervising almost all the
work and raising the necessary funding, they would be given relatively free rein to accomplish the
Foundation's objectives. They work day and night at times, as if driven by the biological clock.
But they seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Theirs was a labor of love. They had a burning passion
to help the people of the Barrens preserve their cultural heritage. It was a fulfilling mission for
them. It enabled them to give something back to the people of the community - people who had been
so supportive of them during their earlier business, professional and political careers.
These ladies were aware of their strengths and their limitations,
their lack of expertise in certain areas and the time constraint under which they would have to produce
results. Time would not permit them to work through committees to build consensus. That approach might
have ruffled fewer feathers and offended fewer sensibilities than the often unilateral and autocratic modus
operandi which they felt compelled to adopt. They would have been the first to admit that they imposed,
to a great extent, their personal preservation agenda upon the Foundation. Viewed in retrospect, perhaps
"doing it their way" was the only way to get the job done. Right way or not, much has been accomplished
by these two ladies, and we need to be grateful and to continue to build upon the foundation which they
have laid for us.
Although Beula and Christeen were the prime movers,
the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center could not have advanced to this point without the help
of many others: city and county officials, board members, legal advisors, volunteer workers, donors
of money, artifacts and memorabilia, friends and family. In addition to these, one cannot overlook
the significant work of their assistants, Julie Smith from 1989 to 1993 and Holly Travis Carner
from 1993 to 2000. All of them deserve much credit for their contributions and support.
