By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

CALERA – Lindsay Schluntz, the new executive director of the Alabama Firefighters Museum and Education Center, was introduced at Calera’s City Council meeting Aug. 5 and presented the foundation’s vision for the new fire museum.

Schluntz, who moved from Nebraska and started work in Calera June 3, presented a video showcasing her vision at a work session immediately prior to the meeting.

The video included a walk-through experience through the museum, which will have an interactive kids’ area as well as a rotating display of local and not-so-local fire trucks.

Schluntz was a part of the team responsible for the planning and building of the Nebraska Firefighters Museum and Education Center before moving to Calera, and she said she was attracted to Calera because of the large amount of work and planning that has already been put into project.

“They could have built something by now, but not to that magnitude and not to the impact that we want,” Schluntz said, referring to her video presentation. “If we want to be a premiere destination off of the interstate, (we need more time).”

Schluntz said the museum is expected to be a $4.5 million project, and the city has about $1 million right now to work with.

The next couple of months will be spent receiving feedback from the community, continuing to raise funds through a capital campaign and moving into a new public campaign office just a few blocks away from the museum’s location, Schluntz said.

She also said she hopes to have a construction date set by December.