The museum is also seeking grants from institutions and foundations. House of Flags officials previously considered tearing down the Gibson Street building and constructing a new building. But the museum&squo;s board decided instead to pursue renovation to save money and preserve the existing structure.

The design drawings for renovating the Columbus building were created by architect John Walters of Tryon. Engineers have inspected the building and found it to be structurally sound.

The House of Flags was created in 2000 by former museum curator George Scofield and the Columbus Chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars with the goal of educating citizens about the flag, its history and practices to honor it.

The House of Flags is considered to be the only place in the country with all 28 historical U.S. flags on display at the same time. The museum also includes numerous state flags, Civil War flags, armed services flags, and religious flags. The museum currently holds nearly 300 flags, and recently added some Revoluntionary and Civil War flags.

The new flags include the 13-star Hopkinson flag and the first historical flag of North Carolina, the &dquo;Hornet&squo;s Nest&dquo; flag. The Hopkinson flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It includes 13 six-pointed stars in a &dquo;staggard&dquo; pattern. The &dquo;Hornet&squo;s Nest&dquo; flag, dated May 20, 1775, refers to the date of the signing of the &dquo;Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence,&dquo; allegedly the first delaration of independence made in the 13 colonies.

The House of Flags sells flags and other patriotic items to raise money for its building project.&bsp; Anyone interested in contributing also can send a check to The House of Flags Museum, Inc., P.O. Box 1090, Columbus, N.C. 28722.