The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 on July 7 to award $42,138 from the county’s Community Outreach Fund to the Fort Walla Walla Museum to help build a shelter, viewing platform and a replica tender for the museum’s 1878 Blue Mountain locomotive.

The funding was requested to close an approximately $42,000 fundraising gap so the museum could complete the shelter and exhibit work in time for the railroad’s sesquicentennial and the schools’ fall tour season. Groover Snell, operations manager at the Fort Walla Walla Museum, described the locomotive as “one of our most prized possessions or prized artifacts,” and said volunteers have done extensive restoration but the wooden cab and recent restoration work are already deteriorating from weather exposure.

Commissioners discussed timing and outreach. Commissioner Kimball said she had known about the project for several years and backed full funding, adding the exhibit will support student engagement through planned contests and school visits. Commissioner Clayton said a budget amendment to fully fund the request was reasonable and noted the project met the county’s criteria for community outreach dollars. Commissioner Fulmer joined the motion to award the requested amount and instructed staff to work with the prosecutor’s office on an agreement for the funds.

Project details presented by Snell in the meeting packet show a museum project budget of about $305,000 for the shelter and site work, a roughly $60,000 line item to build a replica tender and additional costs for interpretive signage and outreach. Museum fundraising to date includes $100,000 in state support and several private and nonprofit grants; the museum said a remaining gap of roughly $42,000 must be filled for completion this year. The museum offered to transfer the historic courthouse flagpole base to the county as part of the partnership; commissioners signaled support for accepting that artifact and exploring reinstallation.

The board’s motion directed the clerk to coordinate with the prosecuting attorney’s office on a grant agreement. The award will draw from the county’s Community Outreach Fund. Commissioners also noted the county would likely consider a budget amendment to make the award possible while recognizing that doing so may limit other outreach requests for the remainder of the fiscal year.

The commission’s approval was recorded as 3-0. Museum staff said they plan a free community day sponsored by Baker Boy Bank and expect additional public programming tied to the October anniversary celebration.

Why it matters: Preserving and interpreting the Blue Mountain locomotive ties to regional agricultural and transportation history; completing a shelter and viewing platform will expand school-visit capacity and protect a fragile, largely volunteer-restored artifact.