Seaford Museum gets a facelift thanks to community support
A snowy Friday afternoon marked the end of a six-month renovation project at the Seaford Museum. This past summer, Seaford Historical Society Membership Committee Chairman George Beauchamp brought to the board’s attention that the facade of the town’s showplace was a little shabby. The 10 years since its grand opening in 2003 had left peeling paint, unruly shrubbery and a couple of dead trees. Signs marking the site needed some work as well.
Beauchamp enlisted the help of fellow SHS members Anne Nesbitt, Jerry Chapman, Noel Dykes, Earl Tull and Clark White as well as two local businesses, Don-Lee Margin and Phillips Signs, and started work in July.
Don-Lee Margin did a complete powerwashing of the front of the building, formerly the Seaford Post Office. After that was repair and repainting of the federal-style door and window sashes.
Next, Beauchamp, White, Dykes and Chapman went to work with pruning shears and shovels. Over a three-day period, they transformed the landscaping across the front of the building. Once the dead trees and clippings were removed, they were ready for the finishing touch, provided by the experts at Phillips Signs.
Working with Beauchamp, Phillips had designed a handsome sign and signpost that would hang perpendicular to the street and identify The Seaford Museum and Seaford Historical Society Administrative Office. That sign and one declaring the museum as part of the Chesapeake Gateways Network were installed Jan. 25 on either side of the steps leading into the building.
All of Beauchamp’s crew except for one were there to witness the culmination of the project. The snow didn’t deter the crew of Phillips Signs from getting things right, and Beauchamp declared all that was needed were a few more landscape stones.
The 78-year-old building on West High Street in Seaford that houses one of the finest collections of artifacts in Delaware now has a fresh new look to greet visitors and attract new members. Museum hours are 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.
