We’re just learning this afternoon about a major disaster that has struck the Heritage Museum & Cultural Center in St. Joseph stemming from flooding discovered a week ago.
Heritage Curator Tracy Gierada has dispatched word today that all upcoming events and programming there have been cancelled or moved to another location following a major flooding disaster discovered a week ago on Monday, December 11th.
According to Gierada’s dispatch, “The disaster was caused by an HVAC boiler located above the upper galleries.” She goes on to report that “While destructive damage was done to many interior walls, floors and offices on three levels, incredibly, there was no damage to the museum’s archival storage spaces.” Apparently a few artifacts on exhibit were, however, damaged and will need to be restored.
Additionally, Gierada reports that the building’s parlor, kitchen, bathrooms, and “most of the Shepherd Hall” event space were unaffected.
In addition to the cancellation of all upcoming events and programming, the building will remain closed until further notice. The organization’s President, Becky Meier,says, “With help from our community we will recover, rebuild, and move past this incident toward a stronger future.”
New Executive Director Elizabeth Andrews is asking the community for support as the Heritage Museum works to rebuild and restore their magnificent building on Main Street in the city. She notes, “Before this incident, our organization already knew that it was time to plan for the replacement of major equipment in our facility,” and adds, “We were just awarded a $50,000 grant toward capital improvements, which we must match 1:1 with additional fundraising. With this disaster, the best support we could ask for is donations to help us raise the match as quickly as possible.”
Built by the Fort Miami Heritage Society, the center opened to the public nearly 20 years ago in 1998. The facility is named the Priscilla U. Byrns Center in honor of a great leader and patron of the organization, who made the building possible. The mission of the Heritage Museum and Cultural Center is “to engage the public in a vibrant organization that promotes historical preservation, education and research that relates to Benton Harbor, St. Joseph and the surrounding region.” It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has served the local community since 1965.
This is not the first time a major disaster has truck at 601 Main. A forerunner to the Heritage Museum was destroyed by a massive fire years ago following a wedding reception when flames erupted in the bell tower and spread rapidly to most of the building.
