August 1, 1999
(How the Museum Complex began)It began in February of 1997 with a rather astonishing letter. It was the kind of offer that was hard to comprehend -- and even harder to refuse: Did anyone want a historical wax museum?
"We read the letter several times just to make sure we were reading correctly," said Toddi Darlington, director of Thermopolis Chamber of Commerce. Then she faxed it to the town administrative offices and other town leaders.
The offer was not a joke. The letter was from the Tim Smith family of Jackson, Wyoming. Their father, Raymond Smith, had put together a wax museum in the 1960s. After he died, they continued to operate it for several years. When other business interests demanded attention, they closed the museum, carefully packing and crating away dioramas and figures of General Custer, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill Cody, Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea, Jim Bridger, William Henry Jackson, Charles Russell, Butch Cassidy, and other lesser luminaries.
But the Smith family had a soft spot in their heart for the project. They did not want to see it unused. "We were looking for a town that could show us they could make good use of what my father had developed," said Tim Smith of Jackson. "We had monetary offers from wax museums out of state, but we wanted it to stay in Wyoming if possible. So we threw the offer on the table, open to any town in the state that was interested."
In Thermopolis, Bev Lawrence, assistant to then mayor Mike Mortimore, read the letter with skepticism and excitement. "How many times do you get offered a gift worth $2.5 million? If it were true, it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance -- like winning a lottery."
Thermopolis is one of those small picturesque Western towns where the altitude is higher than the population (altitude 4500, population 3200). It is located 120 miles southeast of Yellowstone in north central Wyoming, along the Big Horn River and three miles from the spectacular Wind River Canyon. Summer visitors come to the mineral hot springs, to dig dinosaurs in the hills above town with the Wyoming Dinosaur Center crew, to hunt or fish.
Why would anyone even want a wax museum? "We didn't see a wax museum," said Sue Blakey, who is on the board of directors of the Big Horn Basin Education Foundation. "We saw an opportunity to create a multipurpose center that could encompass education, folk arts, humanities, crafts, and entertainment. The wax museum would give us a starting point. We never saw it as a complete project that we would simply transport from one place to another. We wanted it to be unique, to give it our own flavor."
A consortium was organized, including the town of Thermopolis, the Foundation and several interested businesses and individuals.
"We decided to go for it," said Lawrence. "W knew it wouldn't be easy. After all, it wasn't ours just for the asking. It required a real commitment on our part. Plenty of towns had a lot more public and corporate resources on which to draw if they chose to do so. But we knew no one would work any harder for it than we would."
One major requirement was an appropriate building, in a decent location, structurally able to handle the heavy weight and height of the dioramas. "We were talking about moving entire rooms," said Lawrence. "Some were only 10x10 feet, but a couple were 15x25 feet -- the size of a small trailer. They required ceilings at least 10 feet high, preferably taller. There might be plenty of buildings that fit the bill in metropolitan areas, but you don't see many like that in rural areas."
Yet, sitting on Highway 20, a half-block from Thermopolis' main street, was just such a building. It had been built by the Elks organization in the 1950s during the oil boom. It was built of concrete -- sturdy enough for dances and large gatherings. When the oil boom dwindled, so did membership. The two story building had been empty for three years, and it sadly needed repairs. But who in a town the size of Thermopolis needed a structure with 22,000 square feet?
A building that sits empty for any length of time is going to have problems," Lawrence said. "We knew it needed a major renovation and overhaul, including electrical, heating, and cooling. We also had to find a way to meet disability standards."
The town decided it was worth pursuing. They would purchase the building and remodel it if the Smiths would donate the wax museum.
"Thermopolis is not a wealthy town," Lawrence said. "Hot Springs County ranks at the lower end of the state's economic spectrum. This was a big commitment for us. We knew we'd have to work hard to do it, but we felt it had too much potential for our community not to do it."
The Smith family agreed. "We had some towns that essentially said they would take it off our hands," Tim Smith said. "That wasn't what we had in mind. No one else looked at it as creatively as the Thermopolis group."
With plan in hand, the town began to apply for grants. "In addition to the commitment from the town, we received a state Community Development Block Grant for downtown revitalization," said Lawrence. "Grants from Pacific Power and the U.S. Forest Service were used to add a chair lift for handicap accessibility. Other monetary donations came from private donors and trust funds. There's also been an incredible amount of in-kind services -- from engineering services to historical artifacts."
It did not go along as smoothly as everyone hoped. "Old buildings always hide a lot of secrets," Lawrence laughed, "and we found a lot of them. Just as we'd solve one unexpected problem, we'd hit another. We hit more snags than a boat at low tide, but we had too much at stake. We had to keep going."
"There were some skeptics," Lawrence said. "But I think we won a lot of people over when they saw the change in the outside of the building." The long side of the building -- visible driving in from the south -- showed all the signs of several transformations, from boarded up windows to general wear. Now it sports a "false front" reminiscent of old false front buildings on turn-of-the-century Western main streets."
The completed complex will consist of three major areas. The wax museum will be housed on the upper floor, along with historical artifacts and a collection of historical maps, photographs and early newspaper etchings on Wyoming.
The lower floor will house Dancing Bear Folk Center. It consists of an activities center, a working textile studio, and a teddy bear museum.
The textile studio will have spinning wheels, looms, quilting frames, historical textiles, artifacts, and displays. "Visitors will actually be able to try their hand at different kinds of handcrafts," said Blakey. One permanent display is the Quilt Block Wall. Blocks are being donated by quilters around the state. "Some are old blocks from families, but many are being made to show the patterns," Said Blakey. "Some were done by a teenager, while others have been done by a lady in her 80s."
The third area is an international teddy bear museum. The collection includes more that 250 artist and major manufacturers as well as the history of teddy bears.
The teddy bear den will officially open Labor Day weekend. Special guest will be Good Bears of the World, Cleveland, Ohio, known for gifts of bears to police and fire departments for children in trauma and natural disasters. A display will document their efforts. Another display is being prepared in cooperation with the Bear Foundation of Denver, Colorado, whose goal is to teach children tolerance and understanding for others. "One is Matthew, named after Matthew Shepard, the young man killed in Laramie last year. It was made by Kelly Dean, a well known New York bear artist."
The museum complex will offer regular activities, programs, and guided tours. It is open seven days a week. For more information, email us or write Old West Wax Museum & Dancing Bear Folk Center, P.O. Box 71, Thermopolis, Wyoming 82443, or call 307-864-9396, our toll free #1-800-455-3466.