Currently at the Memorial & Museum

Mechanical Failure Causes Museum to Close - Day Six

January 21, 2009

Items that were taken from Archives to prevent water damage are being moved back into place, environmental specialist Kristen Torkelson from Cardinal Engineering once again tested walls, floors and cases to check progress on drying. Lippert Bros. Construction workers drilled more holes in areas where water saturation was at its highest to ensure those spaces would completely dry and staff began the process of carefully cleaning cases in the damaged areas of the Museum.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett also toured the affected areas of the Museum, seeing the damage to one of the top tourist destinations in his city first-hand.

The Museum closed on Friday just before noon due to a mechanical malfunction of an air handler.

Approximately 10,000 square feet of exhibit space (about 1/3 of the Museum) was damaged in last Friday’s flood, but contractors and Memorial staff are already working to put the Museum back together. The Memorial Museum is scheduled to reopen February 1.

Because the Memorial and Museum is a private, non-profit, funds from admission to the Memorial Museum are critical to the operation and maintenance of both the Museum and the Outdoor site. The Memorial does not receive any annual funding from federal, state or local governments. All funds to operate and maintain the Memorial are raised through Museum admission, Memorial Store sales, grants from corporations and foundations, individual donations, the Memorial Marathon and earnings from the Memorial's endowment.

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