{"id":985,"date":"2024-07-02T18:14:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T18:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/?page_id=985"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:06:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:06:18","slug":"capital-campaign","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/?page_id=985","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Columbus Wi Area Historical Society ... Capital Campaign<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Thanks to all who have donated and continue to donate to make a new museum possible! The Historical Society now has a permanent home.<\/i><\/h2>

The Columbus Area Historical Society’s new museum will be opening Aug. 15, 2026. The grand opening will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day.<\/p>

It’s the perfect location — the historic building at 152 W. James St., which was the longtime home to Bellack\u2019s Clothing Store. —\u00a0 Albert M. \u201cDick\u201d Bellack and his brother, Bernhard \u201cBonny\u201d Bellack, started the business in 1883. They moved the business to this building in 1895 when it was built. An addition known as the \u201ctailor building\u201d was built in 1900 at what is now Bombshell Hair Designs at 116 N. Dickason Blvd. The Bellacks operated the business until 1935. New owners continued the business under the same name until the 1980s. The Knights of Pythias met in the second-floor meeting room, which is what the \u201cK of P\u201d denotes at the top of the building fa\u00e7ade. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>

The building has been listed since 1992 on both the National and State Registers of Historic Places; it\u2019s located in the Columbus Downtown Historic District. <\/strong><\/p>

It’s one door away from a historic intersection \u2013 the intersection that\u2019s home to Columbus City Hall, the Columbus Public Library and Farmers & Merchants Union Bank. The city’s historic popcorn wagon is displayed in the front of the museum. The first floor is 2,700 square feet with men\u2019s and women\u2019s bathrooms. There\u2019s a nice apartment on the second floor; rent from it helps pay for maintenance costs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation donates $165,000 to the Columbus Area Historical Society for its museum fund.\u00a0From left are Jorie Habenicht and Bob O\u2019Brion from the development corporation, and Sheila Worthen, Amy Berry and Duane Gilbertson from the historical society.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Duffy family donates $10,000 to the Columbus Area Historical Society for its museum campaign. From left are Sheila Worthen and Bonnie Adam from the historical society, with Joan Duffy and her son Ryan Duffy. John and Joan Duffy spent the majority of their lives growing up and raising their family in Columbus. The Duffy family wishes to support the goal of preserving the rich history of the city of Columbus and the surrounding area.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Farmers & Merchants Union Bank team members donate $10,000 to the Columbus Area Historical Society. From left are Jada Schulte, bank relationship banker; Bonnie Adam, historical-society volunteer; Randy Koehn. historical-society Museum Campaign Committee chairman; Randy Bobholz, bank president and CEO; and Amanda Emery, bank assistant vice-president, marketing and human resources. The donation was in support of the society\u2019s fundraising campaign to purchase a new museum property that will also be home to the historic George Hasey Popcorn Wagon. Farmers & Merchants Union Bank is an independent community bank with locations in Columbus, Fall River, Friesland, Juneau and Rio, Wisconsin. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The decades-old sign for Bellack\u2019s is still on the side of the building near the rear.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Several years ago we visited the former-First National Bank building to enjoy the varied collections from local residents \u2013 including the addition Doris Duborg Hughes had recently given to the Historical Society. We were so impressed by the creative vignettes and the historical provenance of many artifacts. About a year later Judy\u2019s brother, Dale Hughes, told us the Historical Society needed to find a new place to display and preserve its treasures because the former-First National Bank building was leased to someone else for a retail store. About a month ago Judy decided to Google the status of the Historical Society. She was thrilled to learn you\u2019d been successful in purchasing the historic Bellack Clothing Store. And you were in a major campaign to raise funds to renovate the new home for its historical artifacts as well as the vintage George Hasey\u2019s Popcorn Wagon. Some of you may have known Judy\u2019s mother, Doris Hughes. She was an early advocate to save City Hall and the third-floor theater when many in the town wanted to tear the old building down to erect an accessible building. She worked with a group to write grants for the historic preservation of City Hall while heralding the iconic Louis Sullivan Bank building. That group of ardent supporters prevailed! We are encouraged by your exemplary efforts to save and preserve. Following in the footsteps of Doris Hughes, we want to be a Hasey Popcorn Wagon Level contributor with our donation of $25,000. Doris loved to tell stories about Friday-night popcorn on the corner. We, too, remember purchasing the yummy popcorn with Ed\u2019s parents, Hemmy and Esther Bergauer, and Judy\u2019s grandparents, Rudolph and Bertha Duborg. We hope our charitable contribution helps you move quickly to establish a place for residents and visitors to learn, appreciate and continue the spirit our earlier generations had for the great city of Columbus. Special regards, Judy and Ed Bergauer<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The interior of Bellack\u2019s is shown; the exact date is unknown but could pre-date the turn of the 20th century. It\u2019s a historic site that would be ideal for a historic museum. \t\t <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Columbus Area Historical Society<\/p>

152 W. James St., Columbus, WI 53925<\/p>

ColumbusWIAreaHistory.com<\/a><\/p>

info@ColumbusWIAreaHistory.com<\/a><\/p>

facebook.com\/ColumbusWIAreaHistory<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columbus Wi Area Historical Society … Capital Campaign Thanks to all who have donated and continue to donate to make a new museum possible! The Historical Society now has a permanent home. The Columbus Area Historical Society’s new museum will be opening Aug. 15, 2026. The grand opening will be from 10 a.m. to 2 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-985","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1517,"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/985\/revisions\/1517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/columbuswiareahistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}