Historical Society president Kenneth Cage hopes it will be ready by the city’s 125th anniversary March 19, 2016.

Problem is, the society needs about $150,000 more in donations to finish the project.

So this month the society is kicking off its “Over the Top” Capital Campaign.

Cage said there is a lot of work yet to be done, including insulation, dry wall, flooring, painting and interior plumbing. If you can’t donate money, many people have volunteered to do some of the work.

Because of that and donated materials, Cage said when it’s done, the 8,000-square-foot museum could be worth $2 million, even though it cost just $700,000 to build.

The pride of the museum will be the Great Rotary Town Hall. It will look like an old-time town street with a car dealership, phone company, drug store, feed store and other displays. Sponsors pay $25,000 for the honor.

It will double as a community room for parties, reunions, anniversaries, Rotary meetings, etc.

“The uses are almost endless for this room,” Cage said, adding a small kitchen will be nearby.

The outside of the building is basically doe, except for some landscaping and a totem pole from Sitka, Alaska that will be placed in the northwest corner of the lot. Also, displays, such as one for logging, will be at the four corners of the building.

The facility will replace the small old one on 3rd Street, which is the first museum the city ever had.

The society bought the land in 1976. “They were looking ahead,” Cage said.

After several false starts, Cage said construction finally began August of 2014, adding the Rotary contributed $250,000 for the museum.

The museum, at 6805 Armar Road, will fulfill its mission statement of, “A museum is not just a building full of old stuff. A museum is a record of time, a place and its people.” It will do that by receiving traveling exhibits from places like the Burke Museum in Seattle and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

In its campaign, the society has contacted 500 friends of the museum, saying if up to $150,000 could be raised that would put them “Over the top.”

“I’m not shy about asking them” for money, he said.

Cage said the society board will decide if an entrance fee will be charged once it opens “to help pay the light bills.”

Cage said because this museum is so much bigger, it will be able to display pieces “that were hidden away in the old museum where nobody could see them.”

He has worked extremely hard on the project.

“It’s been nerve wracking,” he said. “It needs money to keep it going.”

Ways to donate

•Make a flat donation to the Marysville Historical Society Building Fund.

•Buy a membership to the society for an individual, $25; family, $50; business, $250; or a lifetime membership for $300, which will get you free unlimited admission to the museum.

•Buy a brick. Celebrate, memorialize or advertise just about any occasion. Cost for 4- by 8-inch bricks range from $50-$70, depending on the number of lines of type. An 8- by 8-inch brick is $75-$95.

For details contact Cage at 360-659-3090.