Restoring the Historic Texaco Building

OVERVIEW

As an admission-free museum, we’re no stranger to donations; we depend on them, and we appreciate them, no matter how large or small. However, we recently received a donation that stands on its own - literally. The building across the street from us has been many things - a Texaco gas station and a public library, to name two - but now, it’s part of the museum. It’s in rough shape, though, and it’s up to us to bring it back. This renovation project is the largest fundraising goal that the museum has had since its inception thirty years ago, and we’ll need all the help that we can get to see it through. Once the building has been restored, our plan is to use it for new exhibits, much-needed storage, and a brand-new South Sublette County Visitors Center. Help us in our mission to inject new life and opportunity into the community that we all love. Click below to donate!

You can also visit our new GoFundMe page here.

TIMELINE

2020:

September 22: Alan J. Blackburn of Direct Vacations donates the old Big Piney Texaco building to the GRVM. We’re excited and surprised - just a few months earlier we’d been joking to each other about what we would do with the building if it were ever part of the museum. The building needs work, but it’s got a ton of potential.

2021:

We’ve been doing our best to spread the word and let people know that the old building across the street is now part of the museum, and that we’re going to be raising funds for its restoration. People seem interested! We are excited by the prospect of renewing and reinvigorating a prominent and historical location in our town.

2022:

June 13: The estimate on the building’s renovation is in, which means we finally have a real idea of what we need to do to bring this building back to a state of usefulness. The wheels are in motion! We’re already in the process of researching grants that we’re eligible for.

September 17: We attend the Pinedale Half-Marathon, spreading the word about the museum and the new Texaco project to everyone who shows up at our booth. By the end of the day we’ve raised $400, which is matched by the Half-Marathon committee to give us a total of over $800. It’s a start!

September 20: The Wyoming Community Foundation selects us to receive the grant that we’d applied for. It’s a challenge grant, meaning that the amount we receive - up to $11,500 - is dependent on the amount of donations we’re able to raise in a six month period.

2023:

January 13: Hardhats & Stetsons, the museum’s best-known and longest-standing fundraiser event, is announced! It’ll be held at the Waterhole on February 18, and it’ll be the first H&S in four years - since 2019. Preparation begins. Over the next several weeks we receive several items and baskets from the community to use for the live and silent auctions. As they come in we place them on tables in the Back Building - and soon run out of space! We begin work on labels and an items list.

February 18: Tonight’s the night!

February 21: After counting and recounting the donations from Saturday, we find that it was not only our most successful Hardhats & Stetsons ever, but our single most successful event since the founding of the museum. We raised enough money in that one event to meet our challenge grant and become eligible to receive the full amount. That bodes well! It’s a decisive step in the right direction, but there’s plenty of work that still needs to be done. On to the next thing!