Somonauk farmer Don Riemensnider has come forward for the second time in his life to provide a building downtown to fulfill a community need.

Several years ago he donated his commercial building on DeKalb Street that had housed his daughter’s children’s wear shop to be used as the village library. Later the library built new quarters and sold that building.

Now he has purchased and donated another downtown building to provide ground floor access to the Marie Louise Olmstead Memorial Museum which has always been in a 5,000-square-foot second floor location at 100 S. Depot St., just off Route 34 in Somonauk.

Located there since 1947, the museum only had stairwell access to its upstairs display rooms, with no handicap access or room to install an elevator. Now with the purchase of the adjoining building there will be additional space for exhibits and fundraising can begin to install an elevator.

Museum board president Brad Meyer said they have waited many years for the opportunity to make the museum more accessible to the public and add space for many stored artifacts that should be shared. He also hopes the Somonauk Historical Preservation Commission will be re-activated by the village to help with the project and utilize space in the building for new displays as more items of historical significance are donated by local residents.

Riemensnider, 91, was born on a farm south of town and had to assume responsibility for operating it at age 15 when his father died. He expanded the acreage from 160 up to its present 550 acres, which is now farmed by Jim Johnson, he said. He and his late wife built a new home in Somonauk and moved off the farm some 20 years ago. For several years he was president of the LaSalle County Farm Bureau and has been active in many civic and business groups over the years.

“I always admired Attorney (L.B.) Olmstead for the historical items he acquired and preserved at his home and the extensive gardens he maintained. So I am glad to provide something that will continue the legacy with the added space,” Reimensnider said.

By 1947 the collection had outgrown his house and outbuilding so he moved it above the bank downtown. He named the museum after his late wife Marie Louise. The bank on the first floor was later sold but the museum kept the ownership of the upper floor. After Olmstead’s death in 1951, a nonprofit was established so it could be operated in perpetuity as he had wished.

The museum has the distinction of being the oldest continuously operated one in DeKalb County and has a collection of an estimated 10,000 artifacts. Included are items dating back hundreds of years, Native American pieces from area tribes including a full-sized birchbark canoe, many artifacts from Colonial America, Civil War memorabilia including letters from local area soldiers, an extensive firearms collection, plus soldiers’ belongings from both world wars.

The museum is housed in what was once Union Hall where many public events were held over the years. The new addition originally housed several stores, the most notable being the Suppeland Brothers Grocery. For the past 35 years, the building had been owned by the Bruggemann family that operated Nel’s Catering there until closing in December.

Another museum board member Jim Gerlick said they have a lot of work ahead of them in restoring the building, financing an elevator and expanding the displays, but it is something they have been wanting to do for many years.