Museum at the Bighorns announces plans to relocate downtown

The Museum at the Bighorns has announced plans to relocate to the historic Woolworth building at 171 North Main Str., in downtown Sheridan. 

Executive Director Dani Stuckle said the Museum will temporarily close after the annual Holiday Open House on Saturday, Dec. 16, and will reopen in the new downtown location in the Spring of 2025.

According to a release from the museum, staff and volunteers will spend the next few months in the process of inventorying and moving the collections, which number more than 30,000 objects. Plans include construction of exhibits focused on lots of hands-on and interactive elements. 

“The new exhibits will be family oriented and kid-friendly, but adults usually enjoy the interactives as much as the kids do,” Stuckle said in a statement. “Not only will this move give us more exhibit and collection storage space than we have now, but it also will bring the Museum at the Bighorns right to the heart of the community. We have such a thriving and vibrant downtown; we really want to be part of that energy.” 

Although Museum administrators have not made final decisions on all the items that will be displayed in the new museum, they have said that the museum’s current collections will be part of the new museum’s permanent and rotating exhibits or permanently stored. Stuckle said that the museum board has signed a Letter of Intent and expects to sign a long-term lease to be finalized early in December 2023. Staff and volunteers will continue to provide outreach services during this time. Staff also plan to collaborate with various partners to continue to provide programming around the community.

For more information, contact Dani Stuckle at director@museumbighorns.org or 307-675-1150. 

The Museum of the Bighorns is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. until Dec. 16, 2023. 

Find out more at museumbighorns.org.