State Museum reconsidering Franklin County canal decision with prospect of new funding
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The only surviving covered aqueduct over a canal in the U.S. at the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site in Metamora. (photo provided Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites)
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Historic grist mill at the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site in Metamora. (photo provided Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites)
On June 12, the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites surprised the small town of Metamora by announcing it would stop operating the Franklin County town’s beloved Whitewater Canal State Historic Site.
The museum said it would cost around $14 million to properly renovate the canal and that it had exhausted all avenues of funding.
But on Wednesday, barely two weeks later, the museum is reconsidering its announcement in light of a “pre-commitment notice” from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. that the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site is in line to win funding through a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant.
The grant award—which is not yet final—would be $7 million. That in turn would unlock another $7 million in funding appropriated by the state legislature through a local match provision, meaning the museum could soon have close to the amount needed to repair the only surviving covered aqueduct in the U.S.
News of the pre-commitment notice was welcome for business owners in Metamora, who rely on tourists to the historic town, though many are upset at the state museum’s ping-pong messaging.
“It’s unfortunate the state, without talking to anybody, put that on their website that they were going to pull out at the end of the year. Because in the background, we were working on getting the $7 million matching grant,” said Alan Stenger, president of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.
Alan and others in Metamora are still cautious as they try to figure out if the new announcement means the state will keep operating the historic site.
“It’s the most logical. It’s the most straightforward. And it’s the correct way to do it quite honestly,” Stenger said.
When asked why the museum publicly announced it would close the historic canal when it was waiting to hear if it got the IEDC grant or not, the museum’s director of communication Carla Knapp said only, “At that point, we had exhausted all of the avenues that we had for possible funding for the site.”
The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites is a nonprofit organization, but since 2011, it has received state funding and is overseen by new Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Suzanne Jaworowski. Knapp emphasized the museum works with a wide range of bodies, but that its own board of directors makes final decisions.
“We have been working with many, many state and local officials including getting information from the secretary [Jaworowski] as part of our vertical that is our line with the governor. The governor’s office has been part of this process as have officials in Metamora,” Knapp said. “But again, the decisions are all made by the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites board of directors.”
The museum will now focus on figuring out the logistics of when the grant money will be deposited and what repairs the money will pay for. Knapp said she didn’t have a timeline or any other specifics at this point.
The Whitewater Canal State Historic Site comprises a historic grist mill and the covered aqueduct along the canal in Metamora. In the 19th century, the canal served as the main form of transportation for goods in the Midwest until the advent of the railroads.
The historic site is the core of Metamora’s historic character and the museum estimates over 10,600 people visited the site in the 2024 fiscal year. The prospect of the the museum abandoning it sent a shock through the area, though some business owners noted that various local civic and tourism groups run a lot of programing that is independent of the historic site itself.
Stenger is also president of one such group, I Love Metamora, and owns the Sap Bucket in the town. He recalled how worried the community was when the museum stopped operating a replica canal boat at the site during COVID, only for tourism numbers to steadily improve.
“The shopkeepers are there. They’re not going anywhere. The canal is a vital part of history, but that’s not what draws everybody to the town,” he said. “It’s not do-or-die quite honestly, but it’s a part of our history that we don’t want to lose.”