What began as a logistics conversation about storing the Wessington Springs United Church of Christ’s organ after the church’s closing in 2020, evolved into a thorough, detailed, mutually beneficial plan for two longtime Jerauld County entities to swap buildings on Main Street.
“As they were disassembling the UCC organ, I had a conversation with David Salmen about rehoming the organ and displaying it,” said Ryan Jensen,co-ownerof Jensen’s True Value alongside his sister Lisa Younie. “We had already agreed to store it in the True Value basement, when David brought up the idea of how great it would be to display it with all of the other county’s museum history.”
In Jensen’s mind, the wheels started turning about the possibility of a building swap. He casually brought up the idea to longtime Dunham Historical Society and Jerauld County Pioneer Museum volunteer Jean Ferguson.
“I saw Jean on the street and asked if she thought the board would ever be interested in switching True Value and museum buildings,” Jensen recalled. “She was in favor of it right away — they were in desperate need of more room. She talked to the board but life got busy and quite honestly, the work that it was going to take to make the move happen was a little overwhelming.”
Ferguson and other museum board members went to work comparing costs of utilities and other expenses to be certain it could fit with the nonprofit’s budget restraints.
“This has been in the works for about two years,” Ferguson explained. “In addition to expenses, we had to make sure we’d still get our nonprofit discount on utilities from the city. We also had to be certain our South Dakota Community Foundation endowment set up by Bob and Bev Sorenson would still be viable if we moved.”
With the green light on budgetary items, the museum board that had been lacking sufficient space for the plethora of historic items regularly donated and brought to the museum decided it would be a winwin to make the move.
A win for the museum, enabling many possibilities when it comes to space so that the board could make their vision of expansion and interactive displays a reality. A gain for Jensen and Younie, who also own Springs Food Market next door to the museum, to run both businesses within one building.
Having recently held their open houses earlier this month, Ferguson and Jensen reflect on what the swap means to them.
“I feel very fortunate the Dunham Historical Society had the same vision we did in swapping buildings. We feel that it is beneficial not only to us as a business but to our community,” said Jensen. “Having a larger space for the museum to showcase the important history of our community and surrounding areas is such a benefit for all generations past, present, and future. For us, shoppers are getting accustomed to one stop shops. We feel it’s beneficial and makes sense to us to have it this way.”
Ferguson said that the response from the community has been wonderful.
“Before our space was so confined that people couldn’t really see. Now visitors to the museum can go into the specific rooms that house historic items in an organized, cataloged fashion,” Ferguson said. “People have been so giving during this whole process — whether it’s donating items to the museum now that we have a space to truly showcase them, helping with moving expenses, being the sponsor of the month or volunteering, this could never have happened without the support and all the giving.”
