Endicott Site Still Sought for Historic IBM Collection

More than two years after the massive "IBM Collection" was hauled away from an Endicott museum, efforts are continuing to bring the historic items back to the village.

Watch the WNBF News video at the end of this article.

The exhibit had been on display at the Endicott History and Heritage Center on Washington Avenue for about a decade before the items were moved out.

Hundreds of items were loaded into trucks in January 2024 and transported to an IBM warehouse in Poughkeepsie.

Directors of the Old Village of Union Historical Society, which operates the museum, decided to return the collection to IBM due to "financial challenges."

IBM originally had assembled the historic items for its own museum at the company's North Street manufacturing complex.

After IBM sold all of its property in Endicott in 2002, the company loaned the collection to the Washington Avenue museum.

Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo was among those who were disappointed when it became known that the items would be returned to IBM. She's been working to find another site where the collection could be displayed in Endicott.

Lupardo told WNBF News that she has "not given up looking for a long-term, stable location."

She noted David Dzuba, who now owns the former First United Methodist Church property on McKinley Avenue, has suggested the cultural center he's developing at that site could be an appropriate place for the IBM Collection.

Lupardo said it is IBM's "preference" that the company's historic items be brought back to Endicott. The village is often described as "The Birthplace of IBM."

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: A look at "Moving Day" for the IBM Endicott Collection on January 8, 2024.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.