With some community support, a local treasure could expand to make more room for preserving some of the community’s and region’s most important history.

An anonymous group of donors has pledged up to $200,000 in matching funds to help with renovations at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum.

According to a news release from the museum, all donations made to the museum in 2019 will be matched up to $200,000.

Working through the Blue Grass Community Foundation, the group is offering a dollar-for-dollar match, with funds raised to use for the expansion and upkeep of the museum.

The museum set up Bluegrass Heritage Museum Match Fund after the museum received the adjacent lots and house behind it from the Edward O. Guerrant Memorial Foundation in November.

Since the museum opened in 2004, it has seen great success and is running out room for exhibits, let alone storing other artifacts.

It is the museum’s missing to “brings the history of the area to life for both the old and young by collecting, preserving and exhibiting objects valuable to the history of Winchester, Clark County and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.”

Few communities in Kentucky can say they have such a well-established museum dedicated to preserving its history.

There are a variety of exhibits at the museum, dealing everything from Civil War history, agriculture, the telephone industry in Winchester-Clark County and more.

In addition to the exhibits, which are open to the public and school groups, the museum provides programming to elaborate on the state’s rich history.

Most notably, the museum offers monthly Second Thursday programs with re-enactors and historians.

This matching fund will allow the museum to continue expanding on those programs and offering new ones.

According to a release from the museum’s board of directors, the board plans to use the grant offer and matching funds as seed money for design and architectural services for the construction of a new building on the north side of the present museum.

Contributions made in 2019 eligible for the match include donations solicited by the museum for charitable purposes, as well as grants awarded to the museum for philanthropic purposes.

We encourage the community to consider financially supporting the museum’s mission of preserving our history and educating residents.

If you haven’t visited the museum lately, we also encourage you to make a trip and see all that they are doing.