Musk Ox Farm renovates Colony barn, creating more space and more opportunities moving forward

PALMER — The Musk Ox Farm just outside downtown Palmer just got an upgrade. They recently renovated an old, colonial barn and the surrounding space that’s attached which features a gift shop and museum.

“This whole idea of this thing is kind of bringing together old and new with this kind of modern facility downstairs and the old barn upstairs,” Musk Ox Farm Executive Director Mark Austin said.

With the recent improvements, they have more room to host events, classes and activities upstairs inside the renovated barn, according to Austin. He said they hardly replaced anything and just touched up the place to preserve the original look and feel of a colonial barn.

“We wanted to preserve and save the barn for everything that it was,” Austin said.

Previous to the renovation, the upstairs barn area wasn’t getting any use, according to Austin. He said it wasn’t winterized and birds would often fly through and leave proof they were there.

“Just think of it as a barn that hadn’t been used in 85 years. It was that empty, dirty space,” Austin said.

The barn was originally used by the Lentz family, one of several original colonial families that settled in Palmer and the surrounding Valley, according to Austin.

Crews cleaned up the barn, made repairs, winterized it, touched up the paint, added sinks and bathrooms, and added a glass doorway that leads to a porch overseeing the whole barn.

“It’s a great view,” Austin said.

The upgrade also allows them to offer winter tours without prior reservations and keep the gift shop open through the winter. They added bathrooms and office space throughout the building. Austin said it created 3,000 new square feet of “super functional” space.

“The farm was lacking any sort of warm, dry space. That’s kind of where this whole idea was hatched, that we’d be able to save the barn but also give ourselves a super functional, new space,” Austin said.

The museum is currently under construction and they hope to have it up and running by the spring of 2020.

The Musk Ox Farm has roots dating back to 1954 and the very beginning of the project as everyone knows it today started in 1964, according to Austin. He said they moved to the current location off the Glenn Highway in 1986.

He’s been overseeing the farm for the last decade. He said this project is a huge deal for them and will help their efforts moving forward.

“I’d say it’s certainly the most exciting thing that’s happened to the property since they brought a musk ox out here in 1986,” Austin said. “We’re all very excited.”

The Musk Ox Farm winter hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They offer two tours per day, one at 12:30 p.m. and another at 2 p.m.

Visitors can book ahead of time by calling 907-745-4151 or by visiting www.muskoxfarm.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com