Monday, October 20, 2008

They have the artifacts. Now all the Matecumbe Historical Trust members need is the money.

Historian Irving Eyster has dreamed of a Florida Keys historical museum to house the scores of artifacts he has collected over the past 30 years. Eyster, president of the Matecumbe Historical Trust, has been studying the island chain's history for 60 years.

"I have Indian artifacts that are 3,000 years old," he said. "I also have artifacts from shipwrecks, the early settlers, lots of documents and even the bell and whistle from the engine of the train wrecked in Islamorada in the 1935 hurricane."

Trust members and friends of the Eyster family gathered Oct. 6 at the Helen Wadley Branch Library to discuss the project.

"It'll be something for the entire Keys," said Barbara Edgar, Eyster's daughter. "All of the Keys have things that should be saved for future generations. The area needs it. Tourists can see where we came from."

Dave Boerner, an architect and Islamorada councilman, donated plans for a two-story, 7,000-square-foot building. He said a potential site for a museum has been selected just north of the Century 21 real estate offices across from the weigh station on Plantation Key.

The 0.6 acres would cost about $425,000, Boerner estimated. An additional $500,000 would be needed for site development, including sewer, parking and landscaping.

"The Irving Eyster Museum will probably cost about $300 a square foot," Boerner said. "We're looking to raise about $3.5 million to make this project a reality."

The next step is an endowment.

"What we really need is money," Edgar said. "We have a group of people who are excited about the museum, and they are the doers of the community. If we can get the funding, we're ready to go."

Edgar said she hopes her father, who turns 90 in December, will live to see his dream become a reality.

"I want to see it happen for my dad while he's still alive," she said. "I'd like for him to see it finished. I plan on him giving lectures in it some day."

Edgar said If money was not a factor, she would prefer a larger plot, perhaps with a wooded area behind it so the museum eventually could expand.

"People have promised to give us their collections if we can open a museum," she said. "We have the stuff. We can fill a museum, but we need a home."

sgibbs@keysnews.com