By ANDY GARDNER

MASSENA — Officials with the Celine G. Philibert Cultural Center and Museum want to build an addition to house their antique hearse, an old hand-pump fire wagon and funerary artifacts that go with the hearse. They also need space to store historical items now in a storage facility.

Paul Rufa from the museum board told the Town Council on Wednesday that the hearse especially needs to be housed in a climate-controlled environment because of its plasterwork.

“Our hearse has very delicate plasterwork on it,” Rufa said.

There was some talk about whether or not they should build a temporary shed onsite or invest the money in expanding the current building. The museum is in the former Seacomm Federal Credit Union branch on Main Street. Museum officials want to put an expansion from the front to the back on the former drivethrough area. Museum board member Joe Macaulay said there isn’t enough space there.

“We need something bigger,” he said. “What we would like to do is build the full width of the … building … in that we would incorporate the hearse room and the storage area.”

“The only thing with a temporary storage building is you’re looking at a cost figure, if you want it aesthetically pleasing and tied in with the building you have there … you’re looking at $25,000 to $30,000,” Rufa said.

The board will have the proceeds from the sale of the former museum, plus money garnered from auctioning surplus inventory, about $8,200, plus a $5,000 donation from a citizen. The building is expected to sell for about $70,000, but they have to pay closing costs and commission. Mollie LeGrow, a nursery school teacher in Massena, is buying it to turn into a daycare center. The sale is expected to close in the near future.

They could try and seek a matching grant from the state.

Councilman Albert Nicola said he wants to see a specific plan before bringing it to a vote.

“I agree with what you just said. I think you need to do some work, specs, and prospective architects for the project and once you get that figure … that’s a big step in the right direction,” he said.

“Let me see what we can get as far as a drawing and a ballpark figure both the cost of with a basement … and just with footers and what the cost of that building would be. Hopefully maybe by next month we can present you with a conceptual drawing and a dollar figure,” Rufa said.