By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

It's a huge dream, constructing a new facility that will allow for the display of a greater number of artifacts owned by the Ellis County Historical Society.

But it's not one that likely will be realized anytime soon.

It is, however, part of the society's master plan, something it is working toward, and mentions in a membership letter.

"Nothing imminent," said Tom Drees, president of the society, which operates the Ellis County Historical Museum at Seventh and Main. "We're not ready to stick a gold-painted shovel in the ground. We are working toward that. It is a goal we'd like to see realized, but there's nothing imminent."

First, Drees said, the society board wants to get a full-time museum director hired, rather than the temporary arrangement they have where the gift shop director and archivist serve as co-directors.

"We're very, very early on in the process," Drees said of the effort to build a new facility that will allow for showcasing a larger percentage of the collection, as well as provide for climate-controlled storage of other artifacts.

Currently, items not on display are stored in locations without heating or air conditioning.

Drees said the society's board has talked with architects to determine potential costs. It would be after that before the board could launch a fundraising program to get the money to build the facility.

"I went through that with the church, and it took 10 years before we were putting up the bricks," Drees said of his involvement with Immaculate Heart of Mary's building efforts. "I hope it wouldn't take that long."

The church construction became reality after nearly 10 years of raising nearly $6 million for the project.

Drees said the historical society project would be less costly.

"We display such a small percentage of our artifacts," he said of the current facility.

As a general rule, only about 5 percent is on display at any given time. Larger museums, he said display as much as 15 percent so they can rotate displays and keep people coming back.

Any new building in the near future, he said, likely will come in the form of an addition that will be used to house two fire trucks and firefighting equipment that has been restored by Hays firefighters.

"That's probably a lot closer to happening than the other display," he said. "But you have to dream it and look at it before it can happen."

The historical society is taking steps in that direction, now owning everything on the north half of the block where the museum is located.

In addition, the society's board is promoting the facility as a local alternative to traveling elsewhere.

"We have, in my humble opinion, one of the best county museums in the area, if not the state," he said. "Yet, we see school children drive two hours to a county museum."

His suggestion?

Stick close, taking in the historical society museum, Historic Fort Hays and Sternberg Museum of Natural History, an agenda that is sure to take a full day without losing hours of highway time.

A sour economy, he admits, might be just the thing to "renew interest in these local gems."