On the Vintage Fire Museum and whether it will remain in New Albany.

If you're interested in helping support the concept of a Vintage Fire Museum located in New Albany, whether at its current site amid the former Coyle auto sales property, or somewhere else hereabouts, now's the time to do some earnest brainstorming. We're told a crossroads lies just ahead.

The Green Mouse has learned that as negotiations between museum backers and the departed Coyle family founder, the city of Jeffersonville has offered a "free" building to house the historic fire equipment.

It would be a shame to waste the work already done. A cadre of committed individuals has put in long hours and hard work toward making a go of the museum here in New Albany. Seeing as the fire museum would be a niche destination for visitors, it conceivably might be located just about anywhere in town, leaving the Coyle property to be adaptively reused in an arguably more appropriate fashion.

My suggestion echoes that of the former UEA director Mike Ladd: Gut the main multi-story portion of the Sprigler-owned "Commercial Building" opposite the Carnegie on Bank Street and place the museum there. It'd be less expensive to do that than work necessary to restore the Coyle property, wouldn't it? It would give the Sprigler family an anchor tenant, and New Albany would be able to offer two museums (and a brewery, and two restaurants) on one block.

Any ideas?

Help?

Does anyone have access to electronic information about the forthcoming pledge gala (November 19) at the Grand, to be staged by the Friends of the New Albany Fire Museum?

I've searched the Web in every possible combination of terms and can find nothing except the Tribune news story from September 15. There's a Facebook page that denies entry unless I'm approved as a member (say what?), and there's a poster in the Bank Street Brewhouse. I'd really like to publicize this as part of the Brewhouse's grand opening week and drive traffic that way, but in the absence of easily accessible information, this is not altogether easy.

What's more, there doesn't seem to be a Grand web site any longer -- just a blog of some sort with no blanks filled in. Whassup there?

I appreciate any help you can provide for this quest, which shouldn't be this damned hard.