FAIRHOPE — Progress on the new Fairhope Historical Museum continues on schedule, and a recent gift by its next door neighbor has added value and beauty to the project, according to Dean Mosher, vice president of the Fairhope Single Tax Corp.

Tim Rosson, Regional Compass Bank president for Eastern Alabama, said Larry Thomas, FSTC president, and Mosher came over and showed him the museum plans and gave him the vision for the property.

“They showed me the rendering, the concept and how it would impact and improve downtown; their presentation sold me 100 percent,” Rosson said.

“Rosson brought down three bank executives from Birmingham, Mosher said. “They looked at the project with us and saw the value of the place.”

“It is ironic that the museum land butts up to our land,” Rosson said. (The bank is sited at the southeast corner of Magnolia Avenue and Section Street, and the museum is located just south of it.) “It goes hand-in-hand with the relationship we have had with the Single Tax and city of Fairhope since 1917, when the bank was named the Bank of Fairhope. We are making something happen again; our relationship has been good over the years.”

Rosson said the land gift was an 8.5-foot strip that runs the length of the bank property, about 200 feet in total. He estimates the value of the gift to be $50,000.

“Their gift straightens out 50 years of acquisitions and transfers regarding the property (which is on Colony land),” Mosher said, adding that it gave the project a nicely defined buffer to dedicate for green space.

Without it, he said, the turnaround space for the buses would be asphalt to asphalt.

“The bank has given the entire town a great gift. I say that because Single Tax will be turning over everything to the city when it is completed,” Mosher said.

The city is on board too, Mosher said. They recently voted to kick in $35,000 for landscaping. At the Sept. 24 City Council meeting, the council approved funding for the staffing of a museum director.

The anticipated success of tonight’s auction of the Art Takes Flight pelicans will help the Committee on Public Art to make contributions to the museum project, Mosher said, such as walkways, an outdoor fountain and the Craig Sheldon sculpture.

The Fairhope Garden Club will also be assisting with exterior beautification of the project. It plans to sponsor contests with cash prizes for elementary, middle and high school students several times during 2008. Students will design and plant flower containers that will be located on the east side of the museum, which faces the library.

So far, the joint project of the FSTC and city of Fairhope is on budget and on schedule. Thomas Construction is the general contractor for the $1,750,000 project. The building, which is being restored and expanded was originally built in the late 1920s and housed City Hall. Most folks call it the “old jail” because the Fairhope Police Department was based there for many years.

“The certificate of occupancy is, hopefully, imminent. Then we can move in and prepare for the April (2008) opening,” Mosher said

Until last week, the Fairhope Historical Museum was located at the Bell Building on the Fairhope campus of Faulkner State Community College. it closed its doors on Sept. 14 to pack up its collection until it is time to move into the new museum.