November 19, 1999
MUSEUM RECEIVES 25-YEAR AWARD FROM MINNESOTA CHAPTER OF AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS

The Cable Natural History Museum was honored November 19,1999 with a 25-Year Award by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The award recognizes architectural projects considered to be significant contributions to their communities and to the architectural profession. Designed in the Modernist style, the Museum is an airy, glass-and-wood showcase built to house the collections of indigenous flora and fauna collected by Lois Nestel, a resident of Cable.

Each year, AIA Minnesota recognizes architectural projects 25 years or older. The projects must have been designed by firms with architects registered and practicing in Minnesota. Architect for the Cable Museum was John Cuningham, FAIA, founder and now board chairman of Cuningham Group architects of Minneapolis.

The Cable Museum emerged out of a community desire to create an appropriate setting for display of a natural history collection--including taxidermy specimens, paintings and illustrated manuscripts--by lifelong Cable resident and self-taught naturalist Lois Nestel. The Museum was financed and nurtured by the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

Set on wooded acreage, the simple design of the 1,900-sq.-ft museum complements the adjacent Forest Lodge library, which is housed in a 75-year-old log cabin. The two buildings are connected by a glass walkway that provides visitors with a brief, enclosed nature-walk.

Architecturally, the Cable Museum boasts characteristics of the Modernist movement, celebrating open space with floor-to-ceiling windows that bring the natural beauty of the Wisconsin woods "inside" the building. Display rooms dissolve into one another as light and form complement the museum's character.

Although the museum was designed to highlight the natural history collection, visitors have come to recognize and appreciate the building itself as part of the museum's appeal. In 1991, a small addition was added and matched so precisely to the original structure that it is hard to discern exactly where the original building ends and the addition begins.

"I think the entire community feels fortunate to have this facility," says the Museum's Executive Director, Allison Slavick. "It offers a range of programs and services rarely available, even in much larger communities than Cable." See photos of the building at www.cuningham.com.