Bonaire Museum

A couple of years ago the front side of this beautiful old Bonairian house still looked great but - due to deferred maintenance and the lack of occupancy in the last years - there was a lot of renovating to do. There were some leaks so this had to be repaired (and now with heavy rainfall there are still some leaks) and a couple of window-frames were rotted away. At the moment the whole building looks much better and more original, inside and outside! The air-conditioning units are removed and everything is painted in the nice original colors; the old Savonet, Tropical Green and white. Yet there is always some painting to be done, also because on the inside, paint is peeling of the walls. This is a common problem with the old Bonairian houses, they used salt water to build and slowly all that salt is coming out.

The renovation is done without government subsidy or other funding and the museum is privately run. We are not looking for donations - although won't refuse them - but if you want to help, there are different ways.

To make the museum more interesting for visitors we are looking for:
- tools etc. used on the old plantations
- old bottles and stoneware
- ancient indian artefacts
- shells, fossils
- old photo's of Bonaire and/or Bonairian families
- old Bonairian furniture

Also we can use some materials like terrace chairs, timber decking, showcases, white wall paint and other materials. And maybe you are leaving the island or just have some stuff you want to get rid off.. we can use everything to sell on internet and on porch sales. Do you have anything you want to donate to the museum? Or talk about arrangments to showcase - part of - your collection? Or do you have anything interesting that you want to sell? Send us an email: arjenvd@hotmail.com

There's a lot of things to do like telling about Bonaire to visitors, promoting the museum, painting, gardening work, roofing or anything else, or maybe you have some good ideas for the museum.