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Long-planned renovations are under way at the historic King Dairy Barn Mooseum in Germantown, and supporters expect to open it to visitors in the spring.

The Mooseum is in a restored 1930s dairy barn in the South Germantown Recreational Park, a former farm, and will focus on the history of dairy farms in Montgomery County. The museum will include oral histories and artifacts relating to the production and sale of dairy, such as coolers, cans and churns. Renovations to bring the building up to code such as installing a sprinkler system, bathrooms, lights, new walls, loft storage space and display areas began last month and are expected to be completed in January, according to Planning Board documents. The renovations, by White Plains-based John L. Mattingly Construction Company, are expected to cost $450,000 and are being funded by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which purchased the property in the 1960s, and a $150,000 state grant.

"We are anticipating a grand opening in 2010," Barbara McGraw, board president of the Mooseum and granddaughter of the farm's original owners, said during the Mooseum's annual report to the Planning Board last month. The Planning Board approved the McGraw's proposal for the facility in 2002. "It's a milestone for our project, one we have been working toward a long time."

The Mooseum has a 15-member volunteer board and no paid staff, said McGraw of Bethesda. The board will assess staffing needs and establish an operating schedule during the facility's first year of operation, she said. The Mooseum will likely be open weekends during warm weather, she said.

Exhibits will include a life-size milkable cow, films, a children's room, maps and a scale model of the park's former farmstead, McGraw said. Special activities will include live animals and demonstrations on separating cream, milking and making butter, ice cream and cheese.

The county was home to more than 300 dairy farms in the 20th century. Five remain.

"There are hundreds and thousands of us in Montgomery County who live on what used to be someone's farm," Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson said. "A lot of this kind of community history is really important for people to understand and children to appreciate how their neighborhood evolved over time."

The Mooseum's board also hopes to offer the educational program it developed with Spark M. Matsunaga Elementary School to all county schools. Each spring since 2003, the Germantown school's first- and second-graders visit the Mooseum for a day.

"It was a match made in heaven for my students and their families and the greater Germantown community," Principal Judy Brubaker said at the meeting. "... I was shocked to find out how many [students] did not know where milk came from. As far as they're concerned, they got in line and got their milk bottles and that's where milk came from. The hands-on learning experience they've had has been so rewarding."