COVINGTON — The museum for artifacts showcasing Northern Kentucky's past has begun a $2.6 million expansion designed to bring its far-flung collections under one roof.

        On Tuesday, a rickety storage building known as “the barn” on the Behringer-Crawford Museum's east side was torn down to make room for an addition to the 153-year-old building.

        When the 15,000-square-foot addition and renovation of the museum are finished in 2004, the facility will quadruple in size.

Ockerman Elementary School second-grader Tayla Dellecave examines a bison leg bone held by Laurie Risch, executive director of the Behringer-Crawford Museum, which has begun a $2.6 million expansion. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        So far, the museum has raised $1.1 million toward the $2.6 million project, which has been discussed for about a decade, said Laurie Risch, the museum's executive director.

        “We're taking a risk starting construction without having all the money, but we feel this will spur more donations,” Ms. Risch said.

        The improvements will double the Behringer-Crawford Museum's useable exhibit space, allowing for exhibit rotation.

        Probably best known for its two-headed calf, the museum also will be able to display a number of items now in storage or at other locations. Those include The Kentucky, an 1898 electric streetcar that was the last to operate on the Cincinnati, Newport and Covington Railway line; and a miniature train display donated by the family of the late Ray Faragher this year.

        But what really has museum-goers excited is the prospect of additional and updated handicapped-accessible restrooms. When 125 Ockerman Elementary second- and third-graders visited the museum Wednesday, some spent nearly as much time waiting in line to use a restroom as they did visiting a museum gallery.

        And with 25 children and six adults crammed into the museum's paleontology gallery, several visitors had to walk through the crowded room to get to the museum's only main-floor restroom.

        “This building is not coming any time too soon,” said volunteer Pauline Risch, as long lines of children snaked down the basement stairs to use one of the museum's three public restrooms.

        When Bea Evans, a teacher's assistant for Boone County Schools, led a group of boys down to the basement restrooms, she had to back down the stairs, because of her artificial knees.

        Ms. Evans wasn't complaining about her own situation, but she agreed that increasing the number and accessibility of restrooms would help children with disabilities.

        Teacher Lynda Jones said the restroom improvements and the planned addition of an elevator also will make the Behringer-Crawford more accessible to her students.

        “We do have several students from our school who would benefit from that,” Mrs. Jones said. “And we would be able to bring larger groups when they do the expansion.”

        The improvements will increase space for exhibits by artists, historical societies and collectors; provide space for professional storage and care of the museum's massive collection; align the parking lot with the museum's main entrance; and provide more rental space for luncheons, banquets and receptions that help the museum stay self-sufficient.

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