'Duty-bound to protect and preserve': Fall River Historical Society plans 'major addition'

FALL RIVER — Sometimes, you need to put off having a little bit of fun right now, in order to have more in the future.

That’s what’s happening this holiday season at the Fall River Historical Society, which has announced that it will not be holding “Deck the Halls!” this year.

The decision was made in order to accommodate ongoing work for the new Douglas Hills Borden Jr. and Joan Louise Borden Gallery, plus the installation of a new state-of-the-art HVAC system.

The new gallery is “going to be a major addition to the Historical Society and what we’re going to be able to offer the public in the future. So that’s really exciting for us,” said curator Michael Martins.

For the rest of the year, the museum is focusing on these projects.

Martins said the gallery project is nearly complete.

“There have been some delays because of the supply chain delays, so we’ve obviously been at the mercy of that, but that project is really nearly completed.”

The gallery space will allow the Historical Society to have more rotating exhibit space, something Martins said they have needed for a number of years now.

A private donor gave them the funds to make it possible to transform the largest room in the front of the building into the new gallery space.

In a Facebook post announcing the decision to cancel “Deck the Halls!” this year, the Historical Society wrote that these projects and upgrades “will make for a far better FRHS, providing the ability to safeguard collections, mount changing exhibits, and provide a more pleasurable visitor experience.”

Martins said the design phase for the HVAC system has been completed.

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All of the work is being done with preservation of the building in mind.

The Fall River Historical Society is housed in the former residence of Elizabeth Hitchcock Brayton, and was once a station on the Underground Railroad.

Martins said all the work “has been done in accordance with the structure and we wanted to be sure to keep everything that’s original to the house intact.”

He said that all of the projects are “really exciting. These are things that are going to make for a much better Historical Society in the future.”

Because of the hustle and bustle of the work being done, with contractors and engineers frequently moving around the building, they’ve had to move a lot of exhibits and items into different spaces, including the tea room.

“We do have the building next door that we operate the tea room out of but we’ve had to move display cases and display material out of this building, and that’s the only additional space that we have. It’s really tricky because there’s such a large collection here, and we have to be really prudent about preserving the integrity of the structure but also the collections,” Martins said.

Martins said that, due to the nature of the work, it just made good sense this year to get the work done so that they will be up and running for the fall and winter seasons in 2023.

In order to have been able to decorate for “Deck the Halls!” the museum would normally have shut down in October and taken a month to painstakingly get ready for the holiday season.

With the work taking place, and contractors needing space and access, that just wasn’t possible this year.

“First and foremost we are a historical society and museum so we have to be sure that we have the needs of the collections and the needs of the facility addressed, and to be able to have the grant funding available to do those projects, but it does mean when those projects are underway you have to prioritize. And that’s what we’re currently doing,” Martins said.

“The great thing about that of course is that we will be able to present the collections and certainly the preservation of the collections, in a much better manner in the future, because of the work that we’re undergoing now …. And really what we need to focus on is the preservation of the collections, which we’re duty-bound to protect and preserve and make sure they’re here for future generations.”

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The gallery work should be finished by the spring of 2023, and though other work will be ongoing, they will be open for tours during that time as well.

That doesn’t mean you can’t visit the Fall River Historical Society this holiday season though.

The house is open for tours and the museum shop is open, and Martins said that they are showing the house free of charge through the end of the holiday season.

Restocked for holiday gift giving, the museum shop has candy packaged with classic McWhirr’s labels, as well as their best-selling nonpareils.

The Fall River Historical Society’s holiday hours are:

• Museum: Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m, with tours at 10 and 11 a.m., and at 1 and 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m., through Dec. 18, with tours at 1, 2 and 3 p.m.

• Museum shop: Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Saturday and Sunday, until Dec. 18, from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information, visit https://lizzieborden.org.

Herald News/Taunton Daily Gazette copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River Historical Society prepares new gallery, HVAC system