Work Starts at NCM&HS for ‘Bartlett Center for New Canaan History’; May 31 Grand Opening Planned

After moving to an historic Oenoke Ridge property many years ago, Dede Bartlett discovered that she and her husband were just its thirteenth owners since 1749.

Soon after, Bartlett said, she began to find “incredible artifacts all over the property—pottery shards, horseshoes, old tools.”

“It’s marvelous,” she said Monday morning from the large room that used to house the research library on the main floor of the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society. 

L-R: New Canaan Museum & Historical Society Board President Tom Monahan and Dede Bartlett help knock down a wall at NCM&HS to make way for The Jim & Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History. On Feb. 12, 2024. Credit: Michael Dinan

“We’ve got two antique barns that are well over 200 years old. And I thought, we really should be doing something more with that. So [NCM&HS Executive Director] Nancy [Geary] and I have worked on a number of projects over the years. Probably three or four projects. And then she said, you got any other ideas? And I said, as a matter of fact, I do: I’d like people to understand where they’re living. Originally we had the thought of calling it something like, ‘On the Street Where You Live,’ so people could understand the incredible history that is here. Because after all, we’re going to celebrate our 300th anniversary in just a few years. It’s amazing. In any case, Nancy said she’d been thinking about doing something on a permanent exhibit on the history of New Canaan. And I said, let’s work on this. Count us in. I had introduced her to some of my friends who were museum directors around the country. She found these incredible people who are the specialists in this, and the rest is what you see.”

Rendering of future Jim & Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History.

In a few short months, the area that used to house the research library—now relocated downstairs at NCM&HS—will be reopened as the The Jim & Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History.

A first-of-its-kind, interactive and permanent exhibition on the town’s history, the new Bartlett Center will encompass about 1,000 square feet, Geary said.

“The Bartlett Center is going to document the people and the businesses and the evolution of downtown and the art and architecture,” Geary told NewCanaanite.com as Bartlett and NCM&HS Board President Tom Monahan ceremoniously swung sledgehammers at a soon-to-be-demolished wall. “And there are pieces of it that will rotate. But mostly, it’s a permanent exhibition and it has media consoles that people can interact with and it will have interpretive signage so that you can navigate this history without a docent, without anything, anyone can just walk in off the street and have the same experience of what they can learn.”

Rendering of future Jim & Dede Bartlett Center for New Canaan History.

A grand opening is planned for May 31.

The new Bartlett Center is part of the widely anticipated “Campus Reimagined Campaign,” a $2 million endeavor from the NCM&HS, the oldest organization of its kind in Fairfield County, established in 1889. The organization is about 65% toward its fundraising goal, Geary said when 

The Campaign also calls for the new “Jim Bach Special Collections Museum” (unveiled last spring, the six-month project is on track to start in March), restored “John Rogers Studio” spotlighting the life and work of the New Canaan resident and important U.S. sculptor (the exterior work has been done and the interior exhibit space is almost done; the fabrication will be done in May), and additional archival space for NCM&HS’s vast clothing and textile collection. 

L-R: New Canaan Museum & Historical Society Board President Tom Monahan, Executive Director Nancy Geary, and Dede Bartlett, on Feb. 12, 2024. Credit: Michael Dinan

Regarding the Bartlett center, construction manager Paul Stone said the project essentially involves “repurposing” the space and making it more modern.

“I think you’ll see the entry is going to be quite nice,” Stone said. “It’s going to have a little bit more of a modern feel in the entry as you come in. So it’s sort of signaling the range of times that the Historical Society captures, from old to more of the current Midcentury Moderns.”

Monahan said that Monday’s demolition marked an important step for NCM&HS as “the start of a major change that we’ve been planning for the last couple of years.”

“Thanks to Dede Bartlett, under the leadership of Nancy Geary, when this is completed it’s going to be a significant asset to the town of New Canaan, to continue as a museum and a place of history,” he said. “The events that we’re going to be able to sponsor are going to be better than ever.”