BANGOR – Things have been quiet at the Bangor Historical Society, but that’s about to end. Directors of the organization announced plans Thursday to expand – not just the organization’s membership and revenues, but its mission and facilities.

Commensurate with its plans to promote history “from the Canadian border to the coast of Maine,” the society will have a new name: The Bangor Museum and Center for History.

Founded in 1864 by Judge John Edwards Godfrey, the society is known principally as the operator of the Thomas A. Hill House museum at 159 Main St. The organization now intends to add to its collections and programs and to have facilities that are “climate-controlled and secure spaces for exhibition, presentation, conservation and storage space for educational programs, administrative offices and multiple uses by the community.”

And yes, it’s going to take more room to do that.

No location has been selected and no dollar amount has been attached to a plan for a capital campaign, but the strategic plan “implies we will be seeking another venue,” said board member Sally Bates. “We can’t accomplish all that with only the Thomas A. Hill House at our disposal.”

The Hill House will continue to be a vital component, she emphasized, but the organization does hope to expand physically, somewhere “strategically located in relation to Bangor’s downtown and newly developed waterfront.”

To start the society on its way, members Thursday elected Beth Bohnet as president. Other officers are Catherine Lebowitz, past president; Joyce Henckler, president-elect; Jean Deighan, vice president; Mary Schultheis, secretary and clerk; and Linda Lawrence, treasurer.

The organization also will advertise soon for an executive director. It has been operating recently with only a curator, assistant curator and marketing person.

The re-evaluation of the Bangor Historical Society over the last several months came after a financial crisis last year. While membership increased in 2001, the historical society found itself having to dip deeper into its endowment funds – spending $30,000 of that money last year compared to $22,400 the year before.

Increasing the endowment will be one of the goals, board members said.

The collections continue to grow, curator Susan Smith said. Forty-four donors contributed more than 900 new objects last year.

It’s a notable group of treasures, from Joshua Chamberlain’s sword to an 1823 print of the Declaration of Independence, from a cast of Abraham Lincoln’s left hand to “a photo collection that’s out of this world,” Bates said.

Members got the idea of how much needs to be done when Smith held up an 18th century painting, half of it newly cleaned but the other half still dingy with decades of dirt.

“We have a lot of things that need attention,” Lebowitz said.

Also on Thursday, officials publicly thanked the many volunteers that help do the organization’s work, and named Dean Rhodes its volunteer of the year.

Bates announced that major projects for 2002 will include an exhibit at the museum beginning June 1, “Ruffians and Ruffles, Patriots and Parasols,” and a downtown architectural tour.