Monterey Depot Museum Website Nearing Completion

The Monterey Depot Museum’s new website will allow people to experience everything the museum has to offer without ever stepping through the door.

Monterey Cultural Administrator Rafferty Cleary said a strong web presence allows people from out of town to engage with the museum from afar. He said the website will include photos and digital displays of the artifacts in the museum as well as a virtual gift shop.

“When folks who aren’t necessarily able to walk in the doors every day get a better idea of what exactly the museum is all about, they might be more inclined to get involved with helping us, even from a distance,” Cleary said.

He said the most exciting thing about the site is that it was created by Tennessee Tech students. He said Monterey partnered with Tech’s Center for Rural Innovation to allow students to take the lead on the project.

“What excited me most about this, when we have an opportunity to partner with Tennessee Tech is just knowing that the town of Monterey is going to be connected on that resume that these students put out to land that first big job,” Cleary said. “Knowing that this town has made an impact on this student’s life and will help them be successful down the road.”

He said Tennessee Tech students are some of the brightest young minds in our state, and having them as partners for projects like this is a benefit for the town. He said students worked outside of the classroom during their personal time, making the process of the website’s creation a smooth and efficient operation.

“The biggest thing that we’re waiting on right now is a database that’s going to be embedded in this website, and that database is going to house documents, photos, maps, digital displays, and getting that thing organized,” Cleary said. “And there’s a lot to it if you can imagine, we’ve got a lot of files that have been digitized over here at the museum.”

He said the website is about 85 percent complete right now and should be up and running by the end of February, if not sooner.