SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Utility Board (SUB) is celebrating its 75th birthday by highlighting the utility’s history in the community with a free art exhibit at the Springfield History Museum. The exhibit debuts during the Downtown Second Friday Artwalk at 5 p.m. on August 8.
Museum Curator Maddi McGraw teamed up with SUB staff members to create a display that features major milestones in SUB’s development from 1950 to today. The exhibit is cleverly named, “PosSUBilities: 75 Years of the Springfield Utility Board,” and will be on display through December 27.
“People will be able to see the very first automatic billing machine used at SUB,” said Meredith Clark, community relations manager at SUB.
Photos of early SUB staff and projects, newspaper articles, equipment, promotional items from over the years, and posters from past Light of Liberty celebrations are just some of the materials that will be on display. The artifacts come from the Museum collection and SUB’s archives, according to McGraw.
“It’ll be written very openly and clearly, without any scientific jargon, and is meant for all ages to enjoy,” McGraw said.
One of her favorite parts of the exhibit is an interactive activity where visitors can use conductive and insulating play-doughs to make electrical circuits.
“It should be really fun,” she said.
Clark has been talking with retirees about their experiences and what they’ve seen change over time.
“One of our longtime employees who retired just a few years ago is the son of one of SUB’s first employees, employed in 1949. That’s an amazing legacy,” Clark said.
SUB currently provides electric services to over 33,000 customers – more than half the population of Springfield, according to recent data.
They also offer over 21,000 water service connections to the city.
See how SUB got its start 75 years ago with light refreshments and a chance to connect with the community, exhibit curators, and SUB staff at the exhibit’s opening next Saturday, or catch an early look when it’s set up on Friday, Aug. 7.
