The Door County Historical Museum hopes you have more elbow room and new exhibits to look at in the future. The museum hosted an open house last week, which approximately 60 people attended to discuss where the 85-year-old museum has been and where it can go in the future. One place it will not go into is the neighboring building that used to be the Younkers department store. Budget concerns have halted those plans, with county and museum officials hoping that grants and other funding sources can help close the gap and give the facility some much-needed space. Though it does not know how much space it will have in the future, Museum and Archives Director Joe Taylor says they are not standing pat with what is in its current space. Part of their discussions centered around what stories were missing from the museum. Taylor says if everything goes to plan, the result will be the museum's first new exhibit in approximately 20 years.

Taylor says they are working with a company to develop the exhibit, hoping to be displayed in 2026. For now, the Door County Historical Museum will focus on something else new for them: being open year-round. Traditionally open during the tourism months of late May to the end of October, the museum will now be open 12 months a year outside of a few weeks in December and early January for cleaning and maintenance. When it reopens in January, it will be open primarily on the weekends until it goes back to Tuesday through Saturday for the summer.