McKinley Home takes its place in history

The new center sits where McKinley's house once was.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- President William McKinley's home should be ready in time for his birthday.
The McKinley Home and Research Center on South Main Street is still under construction, but everything is on schedule.
"Things are still moving along, and we are planning for a grand opening ceremony at the end of January," said Laura Casey, assistant director of McKinley Memorial Library.
The center is being built at the site of the birth home of McKinley, who was born Jan. 29, 1843. His parents, William Sr. and Nancy Allison McKinley, moved to the Main Street house from Lisbon between 1840 and 1842 to operate an iron forge.
The seventh of nine children, McKinley lived in the house until he was 9, when his family moved to Poland. While there, he attended Poland Seminary School, which was private.
Rooms and research
Casey said the center will feature rooms decorated with antique and reproduction period pieces. The items used to decorate the house similar to what it would have looked like when McKinley lived there will come from a variety of places, Casey said.
"I know many of them are antiques, but in some cases, we needed to rely on replicas," she said.
In addition to the museum-style rooms, the center will also house a research center with McKinley materials, a small meeting room and a computer lab.
"It will be an extension of services we aren't able to offer here now for one reason or another," she said. "It will essentially be a branch library, though I don't know of any other branch libraries so close to the main library."
McKinley Memorial Library was completed in 1917 and features a museum dedicated to McKinley and a large meeting room, but no computer lab.
Since there is no room for expansion at the site, the new center will allow the library to expand its services and display more McKinley items.
"Many will come from our collection, but we are looking to acquire more," Casey said.
Geared toward tourism
The new center will not have circulating materials like a traditional library, Casey added, but will be geared a little more toward tourism.
The library receives many calls from people interested in researching McKinley, one of five U.S. presidents born in Ohio, and the center will tap into that interest.
McKinley, who became president in 1897, was shot by an anarchist Sept. 6, 1901, and died eight days later.
"We think it may bring back people who have not been here in a long time and even bring in people who have never been here before, people who are interested in our presidents," she said.
Construction on the center began in April by DSV Builders Inc. of Howland.
A groundbreaking set for February was canceled when bids for the project came in higher than the anticipated cost.
Eleven contractors bid on the project, with $750,000 the lowest. The initial estimate was $524,000. Adjustments were made to the plans to lower the costs.
slshaulis@vindy.com