Excelsior Springs, Mo. – It was the kind of summer evening Excelsior Springs does best: grill smoke, music in the air, and hometown support showing up when it was needed. On Thursday, June 26, at 5 p.m., the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives officially unveiled its new back patio. This shaded, brick-lined gathering spot is already becoming a part of the local story.
Approximately 50 people attended the occasion, including museum board members, volunteers, and longtime community supporters. Live bands played and hot dogs sizzled nearby. The space was designed for sitting and shade, but it also made space for lingering, laughing, and catching up.
“We’re here to celebrate when local groups hit milestones,” said Brian Rice, president of the Excelsior Springs Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re fortunate to have such a strong organization in our museum, with such dedicated volunteers.”
Outside of volunteers, the Excelsior Springs Museum & Archives utilized support from staff and local contractors. The project took roughly a year and a half from permit application to final polish. Local builder Jeff Watkins, owner of a Handyman and a Greenthumb, led the build.
“It was a pretty straightforward project,” Watkins said, “but it took time to make sure it was done right; meeting code, solving drainage issues, making the design match the historic look. It’s rewarding to build something everybody in the community can enjoy. I’m pleased that they’re pleased.”
Historic details were part of the plan from the start. Watkins incorporated bricks estimated to be 120 to 130 years old, salvaged from demolished buildings downtown. Many now form the columns anchoring the patio’s roofline.
Museum board member Daryl Couts helped transform what had been a flower bed into a more usable space for the community. With nearly three decades of service to the museum, he saw the patio as an opportunity to physically tie the site to its past.
Couts sketched his original design on a 17×25-inch pad, mapping the slope of the pitch, the placement of the pillars, and the history that needed to be considered when making something new. “I guess that drafting class I took back in high school finally paid off,” he laughed.
The bricks partly came from the old Francis Hotel, which once stood behind the museum across the circle drive of the Hall of Waters.
“They were going to sell the bricks,” Couts said. “We took about a thousand. Some went into the walkway to the back door. The rest are in the pillars. We kept the original look.”
Funding for the project was completely grant- and donation-based. The City of Excelsior Springs awarded nearly $12,000 from its Preservation and Restoration Grant Fund. That money, along with proceeds from a rummage sale and a donation from the Maurer Foundation (named for the family associated with Lake Maurer and the local Ford dealership, now known under the owner Chuck Anderson). Local company R&H Electrical, headed by Randy Stone, installed lighting, motion-activated cameras, and updates as the project unfolded.
One major improvement addressed the pooling of water on the museum’s southwest side. All three downspouts were rerouted to the storm sewer system, alleviating a longstanding drainage issue and protecting both the new structure and the historic museum behind it.
“We had a group of five to seven people who really carried the vision through,” Couts said, noting that around 20 volunteers helped bring the build to life. “Cement is just a hot patio. That’s when we knew it needed a roof. It needed to be a place people actually want to stay.”
Couts is hopeful the new patio will serve as a welcoming extension of the museum. Events like Waterfest, car shows, concerts, and casual hangouts are easy bridges to the patio where people can gather.
“We want people to sit a while. To talk. That’s what this is for.”
The patio may be new, but like many things in Excelsior Springs, it was built by neighbors, integrated into the community’s history, and designed to last. With historic bricks, grant funding, and months of volunteer labor, it now offers the museum a flexible outdoor space for future programs, community events, and everyday visitors looking to pause for a moment in time.
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