The work-in-progress Rangeley Outdoor Sporting Heritage Museum got a sizable donation this fall.

Real sizable: 256 square feet (think 16- by 16-feet).

Someone has donated an 1890s Rangeley sporting camp. It’s in great shape for its age, said Don Palmer, who’s led the fundraising charge.

“The door is set on wooden hinges,” he said. “It has a wooden mantle for the fireplace.”

Strips of birch in the rafters lighten up the dark woods.

The plan: “We’re going to disassemble that camp. We’re going to actually cut the logs of the camp and reassemble that as the welcoming center at the museum,” Palmer said.

The museum is designed to celebrate the area’s sporting history, especially its storied fishing. It will house the largest display of Carrie Stevens fly-fishing ties in the world, along with fishing rods, wildlife depictions and artifacts from local families.

Palmer said the effort, a project of the Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society, has raised more than half-a-million dollars to date. It needs $700,000 to open, with another $300,000 raised later for acquisitions and an endowment.

The building broke ground in Oquossoc Center in September 2008. He hopes to have the roof on the 3,500-square-foot log cabin-style museum by the end of the year.

Designing displays and material is anticipated to take up 2009. “It’s more likely to open in the spring of 2010,” Palmer said. He’s been getting updates via e-mailed photos at his winter home in Florida.

“I can’t wait to see it myself.”

– Kathryn Skelton