It's been almost three and a half years, but the Pahrump Valley Museum should be getting an addition soon.

Nye County Commissioners Dec. 16 approved going out for proposals to construct a 50 foot by 95 foot metal building to the south of the existing building, using a $439,000 Nye County Downtown Revitalization Grant awarded on Aug. 2, 2005.

Harry Ford, a founder of the museum, said county commissioners supported the project, but it was held up by a number of bureaucratic hurdles, like a change in the fire code, that caused the plans to be redrawn.

Dick Johnson, Nye County manager of building safety and code compliance, wrote to Ford on Dec. 2 the addition could be constructed but a certificate of occupancy wouldn't be issued until a second fire hydrant was installed and proper fire flow from both hydrants is confirmed.

"The big room will have a lot of artifacts on display because the people of Pahrump have been so generous and we have collected so much stuff, we don't have a place to put it," Ford said.

Some of the artifacts that will be displayed include an armed forces display left by the late U.S. Army Col. (Ret.) Bill Byrns, a Paiute Indian exhibit, paintings and other memorabilia. Ford said the new addition will allow for a larger meeting room.

The application submitted in 2005 stated the addition will also provide room for storage and restoring exhibits.

"We built this one for $200,000 and that's complete with the air-conditioning, the whole stuff, that was a few years back. We're hoping we can duplicate this for $300,000," Ford said. "It will connect to the south and run another 90 feet."

The addition site has already been graded. Museum officials estimated the 4,750 square-foot addition would cost $155,000 back in 2005, another $75,000 would go to purchase 2 1/2 acres, $98,000 to restore seven historical buildings, the remainder would be targeted for paving, signage, moving historical buildings, fencing, security lighting and equipment.

In the application for funding back in 2005, Pahrump Valley Museum and Historical Society members said the museum began as an idea of Chuck and Marilynn Gallivan. In 1992, Harry and Mary Ford donated the land at Basin Avenue and Ford Place and the water. The museum and historical society was incorporated in 1992.

In 1997, the museum opened, staffed by volunteers working out of the Raycroft house constructed of ties from the Tonopah and Tidewater railroad. There was also an old chamber of commerce building, a mine shaft, water tower and part of the Binion vault.

The first manufactured building for the museum was dedicated Oct. 31, 2003. It includes an extensive exhibit on President Lincoln, who was president when Nevada was declared a state on Oct. 31, 1864.

The museum had 2,293 registered guests in a one year period from October 2003 to September 2004, the society stated.

The Pahrump general store, the old red school house, an old silo and buildings from the Bowman Ranch were added. Eventually Ford said they will have a Main Street historical walkway in the back of the museum. Plans call for remodeling the school house and the store to resemble what they looked like when they were in use. The grain silo will be a place to demonstrate the days when Pahrump was a big agricultural area.

Completion of the museum addition was projected for March 1, 2006 when the original application was submitted. The delays were frustrating enough that museum archivist Rob Mobley mentioned it in his unsuccessful campaign for county commissioner of District 1 this year.

When they applied for the grant, museum officials reported they received $70,000 from the Pahrump tourism board for promotions, $39,814 in volunteer hours contributed annually, $20,000 in private donations, a $40,000 Rural Cultural Education Grant and $40,000 of in-kind contributions from local contractors.

Ford, a resident of Pahrump since 1944, said some of the historic buildings would've gone under the bulldozer if they weren't donated to the museum.

Ford said a lot of tourists who spend the night in Pahrump ask what there is to see.

"Actually the museum is about all there is for a family. You can't go down and sit in a casino with your family. The museum is about it. We have people from all over the world come in here," Ford said.