Westport Island’s Wright House will get its deck and trim painted, handicap access work for the bathroom and, if a pair of foundations award funds, more of the work to make a living history center. During selectmen’s UberConference Monday night, the town’s history committee and the non-profit Friends of Westport Island History talked over the plans and the grant requests.

FWIH chair Mary Ellen Barnes explained in an email to reporters after the meeting, the nonprofit is asking Elizabeth Ann Leach Charitable Trust for $12,766 for historic collections storage and exhibit and display equipment, and is asking Davis Family Foundation for $18,819 for “environmental stabilization – control of temperature, humidity, light and air quality – and security of the Wright Landing House/WI History Center.”

According to Barnes, by year’s end, the committee, the nonprofit and town hope to open the center to publicly display Westport Island’s historical collection and make it available for research. “Finally a public space dedicated to the island's heritage!” Goals include tripling the storage space and making it safer, more secure, and environmentally appropriate for archival materials, and giving committee members and volunteers space to continue cataloging and managing the collection.
    
She reiterated statements earlier in the evening that the grants are not a given. Participants said they expect word in mid-June and in July. Barnes said she and History Committee Chair Jeff Tarbox worked together on the applications. “Collaboration/cooperation/volunteering/big umbrella is Westport's magic!”

Selectmen agreed to tap the Wright Landing Fund for $425 to paint the deck and trim and the $550 for the bathroom work. Richard DeVries thanked selectmen for their support in the efforts he said will make Wright House a “gem.” Gaye Wagner added in an email to the board later, “Thank you again from the History Committee and the Friends of Westport Island History – and I think I can speak for the Wright Landing House Committee as well, who have all been working like they're being paid  – for being supportive of everyone's work to turn the house into a Westport Island History Center.”

Also Monday, selectmen fielded the broadband committee’s request for a town meeting warrant article for about $20,000 that may be needed for work toward a possible fiber network buildout. Selectmen’s Chair George Richardson asked the committee to draft an article for the board to consider. 

The board meets next at 7 p.m. Monday, May 18.