The property that has housed the Honey Creek Gallery for the past 30 years has been donated by Ann Fuge to the Clintonville Historical Society.
The announcement was made at the historical society’s meeting Thursday, April 30.
Fuge and her husband bought the property from the city in 1984. They spent the winter renovating it and opened their business in the spring of 1985. Fuge retired in December 2014 and closed the business.
When she announced her retirement, she said customers asked her what would happen to the building, which is also known as “The Finney House.”
Fuge said she doesn’t know when she first thought about making the donation, but knew the physical property is so distinctive in Clintonville that something special needed to be done with it.
“I thought a lot about the history of that piece of property,” Fuge said. “… I think it belongs with the historical society.”
In a prior conversation with Marilyn Berkvam, of the Clintonville Historical Society, Fuge asked what the needs of the historical society were and if the property would be of use.
Without hesitation, Berkvam told Fuge the property would be of use to the historical society.
“I know the society has things stored at the old armory, the Rec. Center, and the uncertainty of that building is very uncertain,” Fuge said. “Perhaps this will give the society some breathing room as to where to go with what is stored there.”
Berkvam said the board of directors for the historical society has voted to accept the property.
She added that the future use of the property hasn’t been decided yet.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions,” Berkvam said. “There are a lot of ideas. We probably want some input from the community, and from other members of the historical society.”
Using the property to bring tourists to Clintonville will also be considered, Berkvam said.
Both Fuge and Berkvam said they don’t expect any problems with the transfer of the property, but acknowledged that the process could take some time.
“We’re going to do everything properly,” Fuge said.