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Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - OakleyPress_10.03.08 - Index

OCTOBER 3, 2008 COMMUNITY BRENTWOODPRESS.COM | 5A
Historical Society wins governor’s award
by Michelle Nguyen
Correspondent
When Elizabeth Rimbault checked her
mail last week, she found that something
wonderful had happened. The president and
curator of the Antioch Historical Society
and Museum was informed that her organization
would be honored with the prestigious
Governor’s Historic Preservation Award
for 2008. The award is being conferred for
the restoration of the old Riverview Union
High School, which is now home to the Historical
Society’s museum.
The Riverview Union High School,
which opened its doors in 1911, was sold to
the newly created Riverview Fire District in
1975, serving as the administration offi ces
for the district. Twenty years later, the building
was abandoned due to the high cost of
earthquake-safety repairs.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Thanks to the efforts of the Antioch Historical
Society, the building was entered into
the National Register of Historic Sites in
October of 1998. The county Board of Supervisors
was petitioned to sell the site to the
Historical Society, which took possession of
the building in March of 1999.
Since then, the Historical Society has
been hard at work restoring the museum.
Nearly a decade of volunteer work and
the donations of generous supporters have
transformed the former school into the
beautiful museum it is today.
On the main fl oor are a number of
rooms carefully restored and decorated.
The library features a number of old record
books as well as gifts from Antioch’s
Japanese Sister City, Chichibu. The Bride’s
Room, resplendent with bridal gowns refl ecting
the styles of many eras, exudes a lovely
pink glow and features restored wallpaper
and crown molding. The Families Room
boasts an antique dining room table and a
working phonograph, along with binders
and albums full of information on families
that have made Antioch home for more than
a century. The Delta Room features natural
artifacts as well as history of the region. The
halls of the main fl oor are lined with artifacts
from Antioch’s history, including the
hutch from the Hard House.
Though some work is still to be done,
most of the museum’s construction has been
completed.
One of the greatest challenges was the
museum’s auditorium. Formerly chopped
into smaller rooms during the building’s
service with the fi re district, the auditorium
is now a spacious room with plenty of
windows to let in the sunlight. It now hosts
events such as Historical Society dinners
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The lower level of the building is home
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Antioch
Historical Society
Museum curator
Elizabeth
Rimbault stands
next to a circa-
1900 projector
in the museum’s
theater room.
The Society
has earned
a Governor’s
Historic
Preservation
Award for its
work transforming
a former
school into a historical
museum.
see Award page 16A
Photo by Richard Wisdom
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