History Rising

The Return of Shasta Historical Society…

As many in downtown Redding know, this beloved nonprofit had to vacate its historical building after a water heater connection burst and flooded the floor. Fortunately, nothing valuable was damaged. Moreover, what seemed like a disaster brought together a community to make long-needed renovations to the old building and to reopen an improved Shasta Historical Society.

Jason Salter, Shasta Historical Society chairman of the board, says the flood delivered a couple of disguised blessings. First was the discovery of broken trusses in the structure supporting the roof, necessitating extensive repair. Also, because the building needed to be emptied to protect its collection, the board approved off-site storage, opening space on the floor for which staff and the board had long wished.

“We were full. We wanted events, research, but we were always bumping into each other,” Salter explains with a smile. “The idea of off-site storage had been batted around for years, but it was expensive and logistically it was hard and no one wanted to take it on. The flood forced our hand, and we just did it.”

Shasta Historical Society Executive Director Bonnie Hyatt shares one more blessing. “It really made us think outside the box, outside those four walls, because we knew we needed to be out there for the public” she says. “We really started getting creative with our programming, where we were showing up in a booth for all these events, and we’re seeing the highest membership we’ve had in a while.”

She lists events they signed up for this year, including those of the powwow, the honeybee festival, Riverfront Playhouse, Shasta Union High School District and “any historical event that’s going on.”

Hyatt says the old Shasta Historical Society layout was more like a library; now it’s more like a museum. “There were a lot of books, a lot of ledgers. So those things are safe in our permanent storage now, which is eventually going to become a research hub. In the building, one of my biggest goals is to have field trips come through here. I’d really love to see the students of Shasta County come and learn.” 

She lists events they signed up for this year, including those of the powwow, the honeybee festival, Riverfront Playhouse, Shasta Union High School District and “any historical event that’s going on.”

Hyatt says the old Shasta Historical Society layout was more like a library; now it’s more like a museum. “There were a lot of books, a lot of ledgers. So those things are safe in our permanent storage now, which is eventually going to become a research hub. In the building, one of my biggest goals is to have field trips come through here. I’d really love to see the students of Shasta County come and learn.” 

Salter says the interior of the building is now simple, with the trusses in the roof exposed and lighted to exhibit the historical repairs. “And what is really exciting is the originals are 2×6-inch rough cut, and they don’t make that anymore,” he says. “We found a local mill to fix what is called the bottom chord. The boards are much lighter in color, so you can see what’s old and what’s new.”

He credits Armstrong Milling Company for cutting a local tree to match the vintage boards in the bottom chord of the truss, adding, “and I can’t say enough about Burks Construction Management. Ryan Burks is the son of Gary Burks, who was in the Rotary Club and a fantastic pillar in the community. Ryan is lockstep on that path too, and he’s been just fabulous to work with.”

The cloudburst from which sprang all these silver linings surprised Gabriel Leete, Shasta Historical Society’s marketing and programs director, as he reported for work on January 25, 2024. The first person to arrive for the business day, he stepped in through the back door into water on the floor and heard “the sound of a small waterfall.” He rushed to the water heater shutoff valve to cut off the fountain blasting a stream at the hanging ceiling.

Leete called his superiors to report what he saw. “I needed to figure out how bad the water leak had already been, so I started walking toward the front of the building and realized that to get there, I’d have to walk through about an inch to an inch and a half of water,” he recalls. “My first thought was, like, what is getting flooded? What archives, maps, what old, old items were getting ruined that moment?”

Executive Director Hyatt, at the time board secretary, says it turned out none of them were. “Thankfully, because of really good pre-planning, everything was off the floor,” she says. “I think we lost a few boxes that had some paperwork, things like that, but nothing historic. Not a single historical item was damaged.”

But the building was. Board Director Salter remembers one surprise after another delaying their reopening. “The repairs led to the discovery that the glue in floor tile had asbestos,” he says. “And when we removed the old drop-down ceiling, we discovered the trusses were sagging, so that triggered a pivot from just fixing the floor to a larger repair scenario.”

For the next nearly two years, a community came together to save its historical society. One of the people Leete called from the flooded floor was Mike Moynahan, a Shasta Historical Society board member known for his contacts all over town. The first to show up was ServiceMaster Restore to pump out the standing water. Viva Downtown!’s Blake Fisher and John Truitt turned up promptly with tables. The Shasta County Arts Council and the Redding Cultural District offered to pitch in.

For the truss repairs, Salter says Cottonwood architect Judy Semingson donated her time, as did Todd Kemen of Response Engineering. Salter also gave a nod to the City of Redding. “I know sometimes people may complain about the speed of the planning department, but we have no complaints,” Salter says. “The inspectors, like everyone else, were just helping this project move along.”

Some day, Salter wants to hang on the renovated building a large, bronze plaque memorializing the names of all the major organizations and people who contributed to restoring the Shasta Historical Society. He says the work done by everyone will keep it going for a long, long time. “In a few years, the Society is going to celebrate its 100-year birthday,” he muses. “The building is more than 100 years old, and I am sure that, structurally, what we’ve done will last the next 100 years.”• 

Shasta Historical Society • 1449 Market St., Redding 
(530) 243-3720 • www.shastahistorical.org
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
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