The Fenton History Center is in the process of converting its former “Lake Room” exhibit into a multi-purpose gallery space that can accommodate rotating exhibits in the future. P-J photo by Gavin Paterniti

A longtime fixture at the Fenton History Center has been dismantled and its former home renovated to make room for a brand new exhibit.

The local historical society recently retired its “Lake Room” exhibit on the second story of the former Fenton residence at 67 Washington St. in Jamestown. The former exhibit focused on various aspects of Chautauqua Lake history and had remained more or less unchanged for nearly 40 years.

In late January, a number of Fenton volunteers began the process of converting the room that housed the “Lake Room” exhibit into a gallery space, which entailed placing all the previous exhibit items into storage and renovating the space — a process which is still ongoing. According to Jenn Champ, Fenton’s director of education and exhibits, the Fenton decided the time had come to begin showcasing other facets of Jamestown and Chautauqua County history in the room.

“In order to support the capacity for a rotating exhibit we needed a space that was more neutral, and could be easily changed and open to accommodate larger groups of people; and so that’s what we’ve done here,” Champ said. “We’re repatching the walls and took down the ceiling tiles that needed repair. We’ve already taken care of some electrical work and then we’ll be replacing the ceiling and refinishing the floors.”

“The Fenton has a large volunteer base, and we’ve had seven or eight volunteers working on this project for us,” she continued. “Without their support and labor we wouldn’t have been able to do something like this, so we’re obviously very grateful for them and all they do.”

Entitled “Made in Jamestown: How Furniture Built the City,” the focus of the Fenton’s forthcoming exhibit is Jamestown’s once booming furniture manufacturing industry. Champ said the exhibit will feature a number of locally produced furniture items to illustrate the evolution of the industry that put Jamestown on the proverbial map.

“We’re going to talk about the industry that really started around 1816, and the major success it experienced over the 100 years or so,” she said. “The idea is to connect the other attractors in town to this history because a lot of people don’t realize that the thing that ties the Robert H. Jackson Center, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, the Lucy-Desi (Museum and Center for Comedy) and the Fenton together — aside from being great places to visit — is furniture. That industry played a role in each one of those stories, and we’ll explain how in this exhibit.”

The exhibit is slated for a tentative opening date of May 31. A highlight of the exhibit will be a timeline of several chairs produced in Jamestown throughout various phases of Jamestown’s booming furniture industry.

Champ said the long-term goal is to be able to host offshoot exhibits either on-site or in various locales in the community to tell the story of the different facets of Jamestown’s furniture industry. Likewise, she said the Fenton is considering placing items from its previous “Lake Room” exhibit on loan to municipalities and organizations located along Chautauqua Lake, that they might be displayed for educational purposes in the locations that they represent.