Environmental Monitoring Project

FAIN: PA-51620-06

Olmsted County Historical Society (Rochester, MN 55902-6619)
Margaret Ranweiler (Project Director: May 2005 to April 2007)

The purchase and installation of equipment to monitor environmental conditions in the society's history center and its four historic buildings, which store and display some 20,000 artifacts and the extensive archival holdings focused on the history of Olmsted County, Minnesota, from the 1850s to the present. Included are materials related to the history of such local enterprises as the Mayo Clinic and IBM Rochester.

Based upon recommendations in the general conservation assessment survey prepared by Neil Cockerline of the Upper Midwest Conservation Association, the Olmsted County Historical Society plans to purchase and install thirty HOBO Data Loggers throughout the History Center, Mayowood Mansion, Dee Log Cabin, Hadley Valley Schoolhouse, and Stoppel Barn. The methodology also includes developing procedures and standards for monitoring buildings and collections, investigating solutions for troubled areas, submitting data logger information to staff and the Board of Directors, and incorporating environment improvement projects into the long-range strategic plan and preservation plan.