Buhl House reopening slated for Wednesday
ZELIENOPLE — The Zelienople Historical Society has scheduled a grand reopening of its Buhl House following an expansive rehabilitation project that lasted more than eight months.
Elizabeth Jacobs, executive director for the historical society, said several volunteers helped clean, paint and revamp the house, located at 221 S. Main St. All rooms were given a new coat of paint, and numerous exhibits were reorganized.
“This whole project made a lot of sense because it really revamped the entire house,” Jacobs said.
“With all the displays cleaned up, and with the new paint, everything looks a lot nicer and easier to follow when we are giving tours.”
The historical society gives many of its tours during the spring between the Buhl House and Passavant House, located nearby at 243 S. Main St. Jacobs said students and walk-ins are the most common tour seekers.
The Buhl House, which was closed as updates were made, will again open to the public next week. There will be a grand re-opening Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m., Jacobs said, noting wine and appetizers will be served.
“We hope to see people stop by and get a glimpse at what changes were made,” she said.
Leading the project was Jan Maharg, who just recently joined the historical society.
Maharg said the renovations began in August and sometimes included eight-hour work days, seven days a week.
Along with the help of about 50 volunteers, the work was done in sections — with exhibits completely removed and cleaned and new paint applied. Each exhibit was then put back together, some with new tags discussing certain items in the exhibit.
“It's just a wonderful project that I thought needed to be done,” Maharg said. “There was just all this wonderful stuff that told the history of our town that I felt needed to be told.”Maharg said she was impressed by the number of skilled volunteers who came out of the woodwork to lend a hand.“I saw the need, and it always seemed like when we really needed someone to do a certain thing there they were,” she said.Jacobs, meanwhile, said she was thrilled with the final result.“When this was all going on, I didn't want to stop by because I wanted to be surprised. And boy, I was surprised,” she said.Jacobs' favorite display? The Zelienople room.“I like that there's a lot of history in here and that it represents what we are as a community,” she said.The Buhl House was purchased by a member of the historical society in 1991. The deed to the house was given to the historical society a year later for use as a second museum site.The museum is just a few buildings down from the Passavant House, named for the property's original owner, Phillipe Louis Passavant.The building, purchased in 1975, serves as a museum, library and headquarters for the historical society.Tours are normally offered at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.
