Ellis County Museum
Waxahachie, Texas
Architexas prepared a Historic Structure Report and Master Plan for the historic 1889 Ellis County Museum (formerly the Masonic Lodge) in Waxahachie, Texas. Constructed in the Renaissance Revival style, the Ellis County Museum building is one of the oldest buildings on the town square and remains at the heart of the community as a defining landmark to downtown. Even though the building had served different functions, it had remained incredibly intact. Deterioration problems, aging infrastructure and the fact that the facility did not met most basic standards of accessibility; safety and functionality were the biggest challenges with the building and museum. Because of the museum’s significance and presence in the community, the client desired to preserve the building and allow it to serve as a multi-functioning community building while accommodating contemporary museum needs and functions.
As part of the scope of work, Architexas performed a comprehensive existing facilities survey to determine the building’s condition, recommend alterations for the long term preservation of the building, further defined the current preservation and restoration goals of the museum and provided cost estimates along with a phasing strategy.
