WENDELL — Following a crowdfunding campaign, the Wendell Historical Society officially owns the former depot store and post office, and is ready to turn the space into a museum showcasing the town’s history.

“So many people made it happen,” said Historical Society President Edward Hines. “Everyone wanted it to happen, we just had to figure out a way to make it work.”

The society finalized the sale of the 466 Wendell Depot Road building with Kristina Hartjens, executor of the late Anna “Anny” Hartjens’ estate and newest member of the Historical Society’s board, on Wednesday. The Historical Society negotiated the price down from $65,000 to be able to buy it, using money raised through donations. The group’s fundraising efforts attracted about 100 donors, three-fourths of which were Wendell residents.

Now, they are ready for the next phase of the project — spending the next year applying for grants, fundraising and renovating the space to open it as a museum for research and visitors.

“We want teenagers to come and figure out what their roots are. We want elementary school kids to learn how to do basic research here,” Hines said.

The first floor contains the old showroom, lunch counter and post office, and could be converted into a museum with permanent and temporary displays.

Hines said the Historical Society’s seven board members have their work cut out for them researching available grants. They are hoping to receive rural revitalization grants to turn the old building into a functioning museum.

The project materialized quickly over the last few months. The Wendell Historical Society was created on March 1 and received its 501(c)3 nonprofit designation within six days of submitting the application, thanks to U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern expediting the process.

Board member Pam Richardson said the society thinks it is important to have a physical space to use as a repository. She explained that people often feel uncomfortable donating their artifacts because it is unclear where they will go. Currently, Wendell artifacts are scattered in people’s homes and in an extremely full closet inside the Wendell Free Library.

“We want it to be a place people can access,” Richardson said. “Now there will be a central repository. This place will bring it all together.”

Since the late 1970s, board member Joseph Coll explained, there have been four iterations of historical societies. The first was created in 1978 for the Wendell Bicentennial. Residents hoped during that time to find a place for town artifacts, but the attempt and several subsequent tries never created a physical space — until now.

Now the group is looking for monthly contributors to keep the space afloat or single donations to help with the rehabilitation effort.

“When people drive through here they look around and don’t see much. When I look around, I have a ‘Field of Dreams’ experience,” Hines said. “We are trying to bring this place back one project at a time.”

Tax-deductible donations can be sent to: the Wendell Historical Society, P.O. Box 941, Wendell, MA 01379. There is also a PayPal link on the Historical Society’s website, wendellhistoricalsociety.org.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com

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