Kell House Museum gears up for July 4th celebration amid construction

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The past two years for the historic Kell House Museum have been everything but normal.

From COVID-19 to a flood that delayed their renovation project, but now Site Director Nadine McKown says they’re back on track.

“It’s pretty exciting to see it come back together like this and just kind of have it look this way,” McKown said. “A lot of times, even when it wasn’t in great despair, you’d drive by, and you’re going pretty quick, you don’t see where all of the cracks and the rot was.”

For the past several months, construction has been underway repairing the exterior of the Kell House, from brick work and replacing windows to restoring those columns out front, the work was well over due.

“When you stopped and walked up to it, you go up and say, ‘Oh my gosh, this is not looking too good,’ so now you can get out of your car and look and get close and see that she’s looking really good,” McKown said.

And these improvements? Well, they couldn’t have come at a better time, as the Kell House is preparing for its 37th Annual Fourth of July Celebration and Most Patriotic Parade.

“What we’re going to do is, the festivities will happen, but we are not going to be on the porch,” McKown said. “We’re going to be directly in front of it on the ground to keep everybody safe, and we will likely keep the house closed as well.”

McKown said making sure this event could happen this year was important to her and many others in this community.

“We have families that come for this year after year, and, really, it’s a Fourth of July tradition for this area,” McKown said. “It’s like, well if the Kell House isn’t doing Fourth of July, is it really the Fourth of July? We’re going to make sure it’s really Fourth of July.”

With an upcoming celebration we all look forward to and a Wichita Falls treasure getting restored to its glory, there’s plenty to look forward to this Independence Day.

Construction should officially wrap up sometime this summer. You can find more information about their Fourth of July celebration by clicking here.