New museum

At last work has begun on the new museum at Donner Memorial State Park. The planning started back in 2002 or earlier -- the old museum, which opened in 1962, had become too small for current operations and is not structurally sound or ADA-compliant. The federal grant and the state parks bond that provide the funding have been in place for some time and cannot be used for anything else, so despite California's parlous economic climate, construction has begun.

The present museum will be open during construction.

To read more about the project, see the Sacramento Bee article of June 13, 2011. There's also a concise overview here, but if you like exhaustive details, see the PDF of the General Plan and Environment Report.

Tour at Donner Memorial State Park

On Sunday, October 31, Donner Memorial State Park interpreter Gayle Green will guide visitors on a tour of the state park and the Alder Creek campsite. The event will begin at 10:30 and last about two hours. No fee is mentioned in the Sierra Sun article. You can also visit the state park website or call (530) -582-7892 for more information. The date was chosen because it was when the Donner Party (or some of them) arrived at the lake, not because of Halloween, but ask Gayle if she knows any Donner Party ghost stories anyway.

New museum delayed

Dedicated in September 1962, the Emigrant Trail Museum at Donner Memorial State Park is now aging and inadequate, and is scheduled for replacement. However, the construction of the new High Sierra Crossing Museum, slated to begin last month, has been pushed back a year due to a delay in matching federal transportation grants. The new museum is now expected to open in 2010.

In the meantime, the old museum will continue to operate. It presents the history of the Donner Pass area, including natural history, Native Americans, overland emigration, the Donner Party, the transcontinental railroad, and more.