On the south side of The Charles A. Weyerhaeuser Memorial Museum, visible as you walk through the front doors and into the courtyard, is a picturesque gazebo overlooking the Mississippi River.
The gazebo was a later addition to the museum grounds, being built and installed between 1983 and 1984. It was designed by Miller Dunwiddie Architects, Inc., the same firm responsible for designing the building, with Foster Dunwiddie leading the the project.
W. Gohman Construction Co. of St. Joseph, MN, was awarded the contract to build the gazebo, which cost just over $30,000 to build. (A gazebo worth $30,000? The museum’s insurance company at the time did not think a gazebo was worth more than $10,000 for insurance purposes, but looking at the hand-cut “fish scale” shingles on the roof and other specialty woodwork, it was worth every bit of its $30,000.)
In a memo dated November 11, 1983, from Foster Dunwiddie concerning a meeting regarding the gazebo, Foster noted, “Bruce Gohman indicated that they plan to install the footing for the Gazebo this fall before freeze-up. They will be fabricating the Gazebo in their shop over winter and will bring it to the site in sections for erection by crane while the ground is still frozen. We discussed bringing the crane in along the north side of the Museum. Taking care not to disturb the prairie restoration in this area of the site. We also discussed removing all excavated material from the site.”
The museum’s collections include photos of the gazebo being brought by crane over the museum.
