Transcript · Ham Lake
Ham LakeTranscriptWednesday, January 21, 2026
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[0:00] For 25 years, the Ina County History
[0:02] Center has operated out of this downtown
[0:05] Inoka building. By the end of the year,
[0:07] that will change. City redevelopment
[0:10] plans mean the history center must
[0:12] vacate the space and find a new home.
[0:14] The history center is in the process of
[0:16] finding a new location to live. Um,
[0:19] we've been told by the city that they're
[0:22] going to redevelop our half of the block
[0:24] and we've been really privileged to live
[0:26] here for the last 25 years for a dollar
[0:28] a year. and we've really appreciated
[0:30] that in kind donation. But times change
[0:33] and the city's looking to redevelop this
[0:35] area.
[0:36] >> Instead of relocating everything to one
[0:38] place, the history center plans to split
[0:40] its operations. Part of the history
[0:42] center will move to the historic Ticker
[0:44] House and then the research library
[0:47] we're hoping to move over to the Ticker
[0:49] Hill House and we'll put that in the
[0:51] ground floor and the upstairs could
[0:53] still stay a bed and breakfast. And then
[0:56] the collection. The city has a building
[0:58] on Johnson Street that is currently
[1:00] empty that we could move the collection
[1:01] into temporarily until we can find a
[1:03] more permanent location.
[1:05] >> Operating a bed and breakfast is a new
[1:07] challenge, but executive director
[1:09] Rebecca Edna says it aligns with the
[1:11] history cent's mission.
[1:13] >> But learning how to run a bed and
[1:14] breakfast is definitely a new job
[1:17] tactic, a new thing that we're going to
[1:19] have to work on. And uh I know we can do
[1:22] it because so much of what we do at the
[1:25] history center is making people feel
[1:27] comfortable and safe in our space. It is
[1:30] part of what we do.
[1:32] >> Behind the scenes, the move is massive.
[1:35] The history center's collection includes
[1:37] tens of thousands of items, each needing
[1:39] to be carefully verified and
[1:41] transported.
[1:43] >> I don't know how many items we have in
[1:44] the collection, but we have 75,000 items
[1:46] just from the Federal Cartridge Company
[1:48] alone. So moving each of those items to
[1:51] a new location is going to require us to
[1:54] take the lid off the box, make sure that
[1:57] what's in the box is actually in the
[1:58] computer correctly so that nothing gets
[2:00] lost. That's a lot of boxes and a lot of
[2:04] textiles to move.
[2:06] >> Time adds another layer of pressure.
[2:08] >> It's going to be an enormous
[2:10] undertaking, especially since we have to
[2:12] be out of here by the end of the year.
[2:15] And as the move approaches, leaving this
[2:17] space is about more than just logistics.
[2:20] >> The other emotional concern is that
[2:23] we've been here for 25 years. This is
[2:25] our home. And there's a lot of emotion
[2:28] in the brick. There's a lot of memories
[2:30] in the brick. We have to go somewhere.
[2:33] And that's just the reality of it.
[2:36] >> For North Metro TV News, Danica Peterson
[2:39] reporting.