A Main Street Bluffton Heritage Center may become a reality, thanks to a group of historical-minded persons working on the project.

The Bluffton Heritage Center Project is the topic of the 7:30 a.m., Friday, April 8, Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast held in the third floor of the town hall. The breakfast is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required by Wednesday, April 6, to [email protected].

A prime site for the proposed Center is a downtown Bluffton location that includes 15,000 square feet of space. That site and other sites under consideration will be shared with persons attending the April 8 chamber meeting.

The Center not only will preserve and instill interest in local history. It will serve as a tourist attraction to downtown.

"The Swiss Community Historical Society board provided seed money to explore the idea," said Phillip Kingsley, Society president. "An ad hoc group completed several studies. The group is ready to share its findings. Now we want see how much community interest exists for such an undertaking."

Kingsley said that the Heritage Center focus will be on the entire Bluffton community, and would be distinct from the more rural, Swiss Settlement emphasis of the Swiss Community Historical Society, although he would see a strong complementary and cooperative relationship between the two.

"The Center's purpose is to inspire people to learn from the history of our entire community," he said. "It will be an institution that acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits historical objects for purposes of study, education and enjoyment."

A committee of three persons, Kingsley, Charles Niswander of Pandora, and Ron Lora are working on the project under Niswander's leadership. As the project takes off, that committee will expand.

The Heritage Center will include areas of emphasis such as Bluffton's education, industry, arts and crafts, religious life, significant events and its people. In addition it will serve as a location to house Bluffton collections and memorabilia.

The committee wants to hear from people interested in assisting with the project including those who have ideas about financing it, those who might have historical objects to donate, and those who are willing to serve on an advisory council or working group.

Although the Heritage Center will evolve into a distinctly separate organization from the Swiss Community Historical Society, it will initially use the Society's 501 (c) 3 status to accept tax-deductible financial donations.

A mission statement for the Bluffton Heritage Center Project follows: "The Bluffton Heritage Center maintains its facilities for the acquisition, preservation and exhibition of area history.

"The Center strives to be an accessible resource actively encouraging the appreciation and understanding of our area history. We believe that our Center provides a unique educational experience based on authentic objects, stories, and lives of people reflecting our community's past traditions, which are rich with ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation."

Organization, structure, governance and financing of the Center are among areas still in discussion stages. It is hoped that there will be community input to this discussion at the April 8 presentation and thereafter.

A question-answer session will follow the presentation.

Persons interested in specific information may contact any of the three committee members: Phillip Kingsley at [email protected], Charles Niswander at [email protected], or Ron Lora at [email protected].