Historical Commission Agenda and Packet 2016 08 03 JT

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Page 13 of 150 • 2016 — The Museum further increased its public hours, adopting the same year-round public hours (20 hours per week) instead of changing the hours for fall/winter and spring/summer. (Also, appointments for meetings with the public and appointments for tours are routinely held outside of the public hours.) The Museum was networked with the rest of the City and the Museum was added to the new City phone system, leading to efficiencies. The number of paid memberships reached 734. The Museum celebrates its 30th anniversary of being open the public. IV. Description of the Museum Campus Tomeo House The Tomeo family built the Tomeo House in circa 19041908. Volunteers made repairs to prepare it for opening to visitors in 1986. It consists of two bedrooms and a kitchen, and has never had a bathroom or running water. It is 750 square feet, including a small partially dirt cellar that is now used for a furnace. This house focuses attention on domestic life. It was the home of the Felix and Michelena Tomeo family in the early 1900s, followed by widow, Grace Rossi, and her six children from the 1920s to the 1940s. The house presents opportunities for talking about Louisville's Italian heritage and the human stories of the house's former residents. The Tomeo House is the only building on the campus that fits the definition of a "historic house museum." Its unique offering is that it's the only building in the Louisville area that gives an authentic look at how people lived. It is very modest and has never been remodeled. With its absence of running water and with small rooms, it conveys domestic life and the lack of affluence in Louisville like nothing else can. With two different Italian families having lived in the house, it is also used to convey information about Italian culture in Louisville. Visitors often have emotional reactions to learning that a widow and her six children lived in this small, three-room house, and they often relate the house and what it represents to the struggles of their own families. Jacoe Store The Jacoe Store was built in circa 1905-06 as a false front business building on Main Street. Eliseo and Ann Jacoe operated it as one of Louisville's small grocery stores from 1923-1958 and catered to the town's large Italian population. A repainted Coca-Cola sign on its south side makes the building particularly recognizable. Volunteers made repairs to the interior of the Jacoe Store. It opened to the public in 1990 and consists of 1320 square feet, including a partially dirt cellar that is used for general storage and the storage of artifacts that don't require strict climate control. The Jacoe Store is where Museum visitors first arrive and where staff and volunteers work. Exhibits focus on Louisville's commercial and mining history. The Jacoe Store is the location of the only restroom facilities at the Museum. It offers one toilet and a sink in a small bathroom that is not ADA accessible and is inadequate for general public usage. Jordinelli House and Summer Kitchen The owners of the Jordinelli House and Summer Kitchen at 1000 La Farge Ave. donated them to the City of Louisville in 2001 and the City paid to have them moved to the Museum campus at that time. 5