The Columbia Paper is reporting the Shaker Museum has purchased the building located at 5 Austerlitz Street in the village of Chatham. The sale closed in January. The village last month received a $1.57 million grant from Empire State Development through New York State’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative to support the renovation of the building for use as a museum and community cultural center. The REDC funds will support construction and architect's fees. “The purchase of the building...represent{s} a significant step forward in the Shaker Museum’s efforts to fulfill its strategic plan to make its collection accessible to the public and to establish the museum as a regional resource and destination,” said the museum’s Executive Director Lacy Schutz in a press release. The building was owned by the Wood family of MetzWood Insurance. It has been empty for many years and has served Chatham and the surrounding community over the last century as a sanitarium, hotel, knitting factory, car dealership, and furniture store. The Shaker Museum’s collection of Shaker items is considered the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world. Its administrative offices, collections storage, library, and archives are located in Old Chatham and are open year-round by appointment. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.