Norwalk Museum Inches Closer To Move To Lockwood House

NORWALK, Conn. – The shuttered Norwalk Museum, which previously called 41 N. Main St. home, is slated to move into the Lockwood House next to Norwalk City Hall, pending approval by the Common Council on a 10-year lease.

The Norwalk Museum is slated to move from 41 North Main St. to the Lockwood House next to City Hall on East Avenue.
Photo Credit: *Alfred Branch, File*

by Alfred Branch

06/11/2013 4:00 a.m.

The museum closed in the spring of 2012 due to budget constraints but will now be operated by the Norwalk Historical Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit. And according to David Westmoreland, who co-chaired the Norwalk Museum Restructuring Committee that recommended the move, the city will contribute annually to the museum’s collection.

“By eliminating the rental payments at the 41 North Main location, the City will save over $100,000 per year,” Westmoreland said in a recent letter to the Common Council. “The city will provide an annual grant to the Historical Society of $84,000 per year for exhibits, program development, and curatorial care of the collection.”

Tuesday night, the council is scheduled to vote on the lease agreement for the Lockwood House. The meeting will be held at 8 p.m. in the Common Council Chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 125 East Ave. The Lockwood House sits across the parking lot to the left of Norwalk Health Department building.

The lease agreement calls for the city to maintain the structure and surrounding grounds, and keep up with any capital improvements for it.

Currently, the Lockwood House is used as a temporary location for Norwalk Fire Department officials while the department’s main firehouse is rebuilt on Connecticut Avenue.

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