City, county in spat over work at Post Commander's Home

Some who revere historical accuracy were perplexed when they learned about replacement of historic windows in the Fort Sidney Post Commander's Home.

A concerned citizen recently informed the city of Sidney that the windows in the building were removed and sold, replaced by historically inaccurate vinyl windows.

The Commander's Home is owned by Cheyenne County and operated by the Cheyenne County Historical Society, which is funded by the county as well as through donations. Although the city has no power over the organization or its building, City Manager Gary Person wrote a letter on behalf of Sidney's Historic Preservation Board regarding the windows.

"If it is true that the original windows were disposed of in lieu of modern window frames as replacements, it is extraordinarily disappointing," the letter read. "These structures have withstood the test of time throughout our county's rich 147 plus years of history. With national historic designations and being considered museum status in public buildings, the structures need to stay as historically intact as possible."

Roger Jorgensen, Cheyenne County Historical Association board member and former president explained why the group decided to replace the windows.

"We had several windows that actually, when we came here, had plastic sheets over them that had totally rotted out," Jorgensen said. "Some of them actually had as much as a half-inch gap."

The Cheyenne County Historical Association was concerned about maintaining good conditions inside the buildings to preserve the artifacts therein. The new windows were installed in 2011, after Jorgensen received a letter acknowledging the apparent need for new windows from Jill Dolberg, review and compliance coordinator with the Nebraska State Historical Society.

"...from your description of the damage that the ravages of time have caused and the water and cold air that now seep into the building, it is probably time to replace the windows for the good of the building," Dolberg said in the letter.

The Historical Association installed new wooden windows in the upper floor of the Commander's Home.

"I can tell you that you could not have selected a better window for your replacement windows," Dolberg said.

The association did sell 10 of the original windows from the Commander's Home to a local antique shop.

"One of our members thought that it would help our funds," Jorgensen said.

Person also addressed this issue in the letter to the Historical Association.

"This should NEVER been allowed to occur, and is also likely contrary to the disposal of public property by Nebraska law," the letter stated.

No one on the association board was aware that selling the windows might violate any Nebraska laws, Jorgensen said. The board strives to ensure that its buildings are as historically accurate as possible, he said.

The letter from the Historic Preservation Board ended with a final request.

"It is important for all of us to work together for historic preservation," it stated. "The HPB requests that the original windows be reclaimed, restored and reinstalled to its rightful place in history."

The Historical Association did not respond to the letter from the city. The group will seek legal advice before doing so, Jorgensen said.

"We thought we'd done everything correctly until we got this letter," he said.

Both the Fort Sidney Museum and the Fort Sidney Post Commander's Home are on the National Register of Historic Places.

"These are priceless remnants from out past," Person said. "We just want to see them protected."

Person acknowledged that the Cheyenne County Historical Association has done a lot of good work since it was created. It would be mutually beneficial for all the local historical organizations to work together, he said.