STARS AND STRIPES MUSEUM UNDER WAY; MILITARY PAPER BEGAN IN BLOOMFIELD

BLOOMFIELD -- The Stars and Stripes military newspaper is coming home to the city of its birth.

After years of planning by a group of Bloomfield residents, construction on the first building of the Stars and Stripes Museum and Library started in June. The 3,600 square-foot structure will house offices and a small museum area.

The $100,000 privately-funded project is expected to completed in January.

Stars and Stripes, the primary source of news for generations of American servicemen, was first published in Bloomfield during the Civil War.

The building currently under construction is the first component of a museum complex tentatively planned to consist of six interconnected buildings. Project director Bill Elmore said the entire undertaking is expected to cost between four and five million dollars.

"I think it will be great for Bloomfield," Elmore said. "It should help put us on the map."

The museum is being built just south of town on the former site of the Stoddard County poor farm off Highway 25. The Stoddard County Commission deeded the 7.5-acre parcel of property to the Friends of the Stars and Stripes Museum and Library Association, the group spearheading the project.

A former Stars and Stripes staff member, California resident Ted Adameck, donated $40,000 for the effort in December, allowing construction to begin.

"Until then we were operating on a shoestring and basically had no budget," Elmore said.

Donations from Stoddard County businesses and individuals helped cover the rest of the construction costs.

Other components of the overall project will include a main exhibit building, a 200-seat theater, a library and meeting halls, which will be available for use by both private and community organizations.

Historical items -- including original photographs and artwork, personal mementos and unpublished works -- donated by former staff members will comprise a part of the museum's collection. Also featured will be copies of the paper dating back to World War I.

The prize of the collection -- the only known remaining copy of the first edition of Stars and Stripes -- was donated by the Stoddard County Historical Society. Not even the national Stars and Stripes alumni group, which is aiding the museum project, has a first edition.

The museum is being designed at no charge by a London, England, architect whose father worked for Stars and Stripes during World War II.

Stars and Stripes was first published Nov. 9, 1861, following a battle in which the 8th Illinois Regiment drove Confederate forces from Bloomfield. Several soldiers with prewar newspaper experience took over the offices of Bloomfield's paper, The Herald, to produce the first Stars and Stripes.

The paper disappeared after the Civil War but re-emerged during World War I. It has be published continuously since World War II.

No date is set for final completion of the museum. Organizers are planning a major fund-raising effort in order to start the next phase of construction.

"People always ask us how we're going to raise four or five million dollars," Elmore said. "It's out there, we've just got to go get it."

Those who wish to contribute to the project financially or offer other assistance, including labor and building materials, can call the Friends of the Stars and Stripes at 573-568-2055 or write to P.O. Box 1861, Bloomfield, Mo., 63825.