AMHERST — With planned improvements to modernize and make accessible the Simeon Strong House at 67 Amity St., along with anticipated disruptions from the expansion and renovation at the neighboring Jones Library, Amherst Historical Society operations will be relocating to a downtown commercial building this spring.

Using a gift from benefactors Elizabeth and John Armstrong to cover the rent for two years, the organization will be converting the space at 45 Boltwood Walk, where the vintage clothing store Mass Vintage is located, and which was built as the Rev. J. Joseph Quigley Hall banquet facility for the Knights of Columbus.

Historical Society Executive Director Liz Larson said she is excited by the opportunities the 4,000-square-foot, fully accessible space, next to the Boltwood parking garage, will mean for the organization that has existed for more than a century, and operating from a home built around 1756 that is believed to be the second oldest building still standing in Amherst. The oldest is the 1728 Stockbridge-Boltwood House, on the University of Massachusetts campus, where the University Club and Restaurant had been located.

Larson said the current building has limited programming abilities due to its lack of accessibility, with no opportunity for year-round exhibitions but instead having them during the warm-weather months. Last year, the museum hosted the “Cambodians in Amherst” exhibit.

“It will also allow us to build on our work with local colleges and the university to provide internship opportunities and to offer on-site programming for children and families,” Larson said.

The inaugural exhibition for the new space, “Amherst Then and Now: 125 Years of the Amherst Historical Society,” is planned to open in late June, about two months after Mass Vintage becomes an online-only store. That exhibit, a collaboration with students at Amherst Regional High School, will feature historic photographs and objects juxtaposed with contemporary reinterpretations in collaboration.

Larson said students in the high school digital photography class are recreating and reinterpreting the subject matter, looking for what or who is not represented in the historic photos, and to offer modern takes on that.

“It is an opportunity for them to share their own perspective on their community and bring more voices to the conversation on what defines Amherst,” Larson said.

The current museum building lacks accessible entrances and accessible public spaces, including restrooms. Much of the Strong House is also without functioning heat, cooling or electricity.

Using grants from the Cultural Facilities Fund of MassDevelopment and the town’s Community Preservation Act, the Historical Society has been undergoing site surveys, engineering studies and design work with Kuhn Riddle Architects. This work will continue and will result in a master plan for creating an accessible building with functioning, 21st century mechanical systems.

During this time, the building will also undergo repair work to address deferred maintenance issues, including repair of radiator systems, the foundation and the roof. Much of this work is expected to coincide with the construction taking place at the Jones, at 43 Amity St., which could commence by summer.

Over the years, the building has seen some improvements, such as energy-efficient windows, electrical upgrades, chimney renovations and exterior painting.

The Amherst Historical Society was founded in 1899 by Mabel Loomis Todd, who first edited and collected Emily Dickinson’s poems. The organization moved into the Strong House in 1916 through the bequest of Sarah Emerson, who had lived in the home and whose will required that her second-floor bedroom remain intact precisely as it was the day she died. The Amherst Historical Society uses the building to store about 7,000 objects, with the most famous being an authentic white dress worn by Dickinson.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.