“Things are feeling more normal than they did four weeks ago for sure,” he said.
Sherrock said 90 percent of the galleries are now open for public viewing — with the exception of The Battle of Piqua and the Hellmuth Gallery.
The pipe burst in the building nearly eight weeks ago, forcing the museum to close its doors to visitors during peak season.
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“We’ve had really good traffic, so we’re really pleased that the public has come back to take a look at us,” Sherrock said.
While the galleries are back open, Sherrock said it could be a few more months until everything is back in its place in the collections and archive spaces.
The official numbers aren’t in yet, but he estimates the burst pipe caused at least $250,000 worth of structural damage. The good news — Director of Collections Virginia Weygandt previously said that the only artifact that sustained significant damage was a small piece of China.
Sherrock said on Wednesday that’s still the case.
He said the first four weeks after the flooding were focused on demolition and getting artifacts to a dry space — but the last four weeks have shifted toward rebuilding.
On Wednesday, crews were assembling shelving in the third-floor genealogy archives room.
This area of the museum took on a lot of water when the pipe burst.
Several people use the genealogy library to trace their lineage back or they call and request information.
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The library remains closed, but Sherrock said the goal is to open it back up within one to four months.
Immediately after the pipe burst, there were also several holes in the ceiling and water bubbles on the walls in the second-floor collections rooms of the museum.
Since that time, new sub-floor has been put in. Crews still need to replace the drywall and ceilings in several of the rooms where there is obvious water damage.
Sherrock said in the next four to six weeks, the goal is to move artifacts back into those collections rooms, and by October he estimates the museum will have better access to their archives.
He said museum staff will take their time categorizing the inventory and checking it with their online database. That process could take months.
The museum is open regularly for visitors from Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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