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Save the Moon Block & the Willa Cather Foundation's Collections |
The Cather Foundation has planned a project to restore the historic Moon Block, a National Historic Designated building on Webster Street in Red Cloud, Nebraska, at a total cost of nearly $ 4,000,000. The Moon Block occupies nearly half of a main city block in the community and is adjacent to the Red Cloud Opera House, which was restored in 2003 at a cost of $ 1,700,000-almost entirely with private funds. The Moon Block shares a common wall with the newly restored Opera House and, according to a structural analysis, is in serious need of structural repair. The second story of the building is unsafe to enter. If the building is not repaired, eventually the Moon Block could jeopardize the restored Opera House because of the common wall. Further, most of the west side of the main business block on historic Webster Street in Red Cloud, Nebraska, will be in jeopardy. This would be a serious blow to the economic health of a rural community already struggling to survive.
One of the goals of the Moon Block project is to provide economic development for a struggling rural community. Restoration of the five business bays in the Moon Block will secure this portion of the business district and provide substantial incentives for economic development. Plans include development of the following: (1) construction of three loft apartments which would replace substandard housing in Red Cloud and provide rent income to give maintenance support for the non-profit Cather Foundation, (2) renovated space for two or three businesses, [with accompanying job opportunities in these businesses] expansion of the Cather Foundation Book Store, which helps support the Cather Foundation, (3) creation of a state-of-the-art archive in the second story of the building to house important historic artifacts which are not now adequately protected, [and allow the hiring of an archivist] (4) provision of additional needed office space for the Cather Foundation, and (5) expansion of the Opera House performance space, used to provide cultural and educational programming to the local community and visitors from across Nebraska and the nation.
The project will affect the 1100 residents of Red Cloud and the population of Webster County, the ten to fourteen thousand visitors to the historic site each year, and generations to come because a historic building will be saved. The archive, in particular, will be an incentive for more visitors to come to the community.
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