MOORHEAD — The Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County, the organization that operates the museum at the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, is going through some major changes, including relinquishing its use of Heritage Hall to give the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre a space to hold its productions.
As a result, HCSCC will have a smaller footprint in the Hjemkomst Center, which will affect the types of exhibitions and activities it can provide to the community, according to a statement released by HCSCC.
The society’s traveling exhibitions will be moved to the Hjemkomst Center's third sublevel and local history exhibitions will be housed on the fourth sublevel, also referred to as the basement.
In addition, the third sublevel atrium space will now be used for receptions and presentations.
Going forward, HCSCC will continue to host the Pangea multicultural event and the Scandinavian Hjemkomst & Midwest Viking Festivals, though in a smaller space than before, as part of the center's auditorium is being used by the city of Moorhead for meetings.
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As a result, the public will see more digital history and virtual presentations in the future, though HCSCC will continue to provide interpretive tours, panels, and audio/video resources for the Hjemkomst Ship and Stave Church, as it has since 2009.
"We welcome the FMCT folks to the Hjemkomst Center," Executive Director Maureen Kelly Jonason said in a statement. "We look forward to working with them on upcoming special events, including Pangea — Cultivate Our Cultures, which will bring local performances from cultures around the world to the new FMCT community stage on Saturday, Nov. 13."
FMCT has been out of its longtime home in Fargo’s Island Park since a structural fault in the roof was found in December 2019, prompting an evacuation of the facility. The organization has been involved in a drawn-out disagreement with an insurance company over a settlement, prohibiting needed renovations.
FMCT’s new space in the Hjemkomst’s Heritage Hall is about 7,130 square feet and will hold about 300 seats with the potential to reconfigure to about 400.
