Former City Councilmember Ray Koernig is on a mission to name the Littleton Museum building after its first director, Robert J. McQuarie.

“Bob was such a hands-on person and so into the community,” said Koernig, recalling how McQuarie once dressed up like Littleton’s founder, Richard Little, and went around town planting stakes in peoples’ yards, pretending to plat the city.

When the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office bought the land on the hill south of Littleton Courthouse, McQuarie hatched a plan to save the historic Fred Bemis house that sat there. He moved it to the museum, where today it’s known as the 1890s farmhouse. He also set up the schoolhouse and the blacksmith shop, and held an actual community barn-raising.

“He really wanted it to be more than just a storage place for butter churns,” Koernig said. “He really wanted it to be a living-history museum.”

Tim Nimz, the current director, says McQuarie certainly was a visionary.

“When you talk about people who had a lasting impact on Littleton, Bob was really one of those people,” he said.

Koernig himself has deep ties to the museum. His council rezoned the property from residential to park, and his wife, Mary, succeeded McQuarie as director. When Koernig’s teenage daughter, Kate, died tragically from a heart condition, a memorial fund was established in her name; the proceeds went to authentically furnish the schoolhouse, which is an integral part of the educational summer camp McQuarie developed to give kids the opportunity to experience pioneer life.

“We wanted to do something in the community, for the community, and she had loved that summer camp,” said Koernig. “We wanted to do something that would last.”

He stressed that he’s not out to change the name of the museum, which just happened a couple years ago when the word “Historic” was dropped. Under Koernig’s proposal, the Littleton Museum would be housed in the Robert J. McQuarie Building.

Nimz said the museum board is in the process of creating a naming policy, and city council would have to approve any suggestions. He added that conversations about naming the building might include other options, perhaps involving the Ketring family name. The original building was their home, though not much other than the stone wall in front remains.

“The property gave Bob the raw material,” Nimz said. “You’d kind of have to put that in the hopper if you’re looking at naming.”