A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
The entire lower level of the library building, where the museum is kept, flooded, leaving extensive damages that are ongoing.
Curtis Lazore, Cultural Specialist, and Laura McDonald, Collections Care Manager, are helping to get the museum up and running again.
Workers are at the library throughout the day cleaning and rebuilding.
A pipe that broke in the Akwesasne Cultural Center’s bathroom sent the staff on a downward spiral, but with Arrow White Construction on the job, things are looking up once again. When the pipe broke, extensive flooding of the basement (where the museum/cultural center is housed) occurred. It was discovered on April 12 by an employee opening up the building on a Saturday.
Two to three inches of water had accumulated throughout the entire lower level and though volunteers were quick to respond and cleaners and plumbers were immediately hired to begin repair, the bulk of the damage had only just been realized.
Although the water was three inches high, sheetrock soaks it up several more inches. Therefore, 24 inches of sheetrock needed to be cut from the bottom up.
As the cleanup crews went to work, a more serious problem was discovered. Leaky windows had lead to mold growth inside the walls over the years. The building was constructed in 1986. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Environment Division checked the mold and reported that it was not dangerous, but still, further repairs would be needed.
“It was a bigger problem then we realized,” said Glory Cole, Director. “We’ve got two kinds of problems.”
One thing staff was thankful for, however, was that earlier this year they had minor flooding which led them to construct a flood-proof room to house their collections. The room has drainage and its own sump-pump and was the only part of the lower level to remain dry during the more recent flooding.
“Everyone keeps asking us if it was the collections that were damaged,” said Sue Ellen Herne, Museum Coordinator. “It wasn’t.”
However, anything on the floor throughout the lower level was drenched, and destroyed. Herne and Cole said it was mainly boxes of paperwork, cardboard, and brochures.
Despite a collaborative effort to make repairs, Cole indicated that the museum’s future will likely be different.
“We’re probably going to have to find a long term place,” she said.
The short-term plan is to get the museum re-opened as soon as possible, but down the road they’re looking at a new home.
The staff would like to thank everyone who assisted in the cleanup.
Reader Comments(0)