Inside Kellermans' project to transform old Cape city hall into a living museum

The Southeast Missouri area is full of houses and buildings with years of memories that people forget or have never heard of.

The founders of the Kellerman Foundation for Historic Preservation, Mary Ann and Bert Kellerman, know this and have taken it as a life mission to preserve and contribute to the community by restoring 19th-century buildings in the area.

The Kellermans have been restoring these types of buildings since 1971, including the Oliver House in Cape Girardeau, where the Missouri State flag was made. Along with houses, the couple bought a building at 102 Main St. in downtown Cape Girardeau, which they named Heritage Hall, that has held many exhibits, including a Smithsonian display in 2020 called Waterways.

Their latest and biggest project started in July after they bought Cape Girardeau's former city hall, 401 Independence St., which had formerly served as the old Lorimier School. The building is 16,000 square feet and is estimated to cost more than $600,000 to renovate.

“It's a huge job. I posted that we needed help, financial help, on Facebook, and then that's when people started donating to help the cause,” Mary Ann Kellerman said. “So most all of it happened maybe in the last three months. It's a wonderful thing. I'm greatly encouraged now.”

In response, the Kellermans posted a photo of the building thanking everyone. They have received $133,000 to help them get going on this project. They are now moving all of their collections into the old city hall, including a new and unseen exhibit, the life work of Missouri-born artist Charles Rhinehart, which was donated by his wife after his death.

Kellerman said they have four huge exhibits, the Rhinehart artwork, the Oliver House, a Civil War exhibit and the Frank Nickell Archive all spread out in the building. Along with the exhibits, she said there are parts such as the original nursery rhyme tiles and a fireplace in the kindergarten room that will be a blast from the past for those who attended the Lorimier School.

Along with the existing and future exhibits, the Kellermans said they are looking forward to holding festivals, special events and working with Scouts to give history patches. They hope to open a portion of the building in the spring and to have the Oliver exhibit open mid-summer.

The Kellermans intend to turn the building into a museum and keep it free for those who would like to see it. Their mission is to preserve architecture, historic buildings and the people involved with them. They want to tell stories of families in Cape Girardeau, the culture of Cape Girardeau, family histories as well as the buildings that housed those people, families and businesses.