[BCMA] Chase Museum Fire - Update - Other museum fires

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

I suggest that the Chase Museum speak with the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) if they have not already done so. 

Also they should talk with other museums that have suffered fires. Interestingly the examples below show the museums bouncing back...

One example is the:

Cape Breton Miners' Museum which has been rebuilt and I visited it last year. 

42 Birkley Street
Glace Bay
Nova Scotia, Canada

Mailing Address
P.O Box 310
Glace Bay, NS
B1A 5T8

Telephone: 902-849-4522

Facsimile: 902-849-8022

email: info at minersmuseum.com



"The San Diego Aerospace Museum ... the Electric Building and most of its contents were destroyed by a devastating fire on February 22, 1978. More than fifty aircraft, the IAHF, and the Museum's extensive artifact and archival collections were consumed in a matter of minutes. ... The citizens of San Diego were touched by the loss, and the Museum immediately began rebuilding. An Aerospace Museum Recovery Fund was formed by then-Mayor Pete Wilson to raise funds for the effort. The Board, staff, volunteer corps, and members, with strong support from the community, worked to reconstitute the Museum's collection in the Ford Building. The new museum, which opened on February 22, 1980, held twenty-five aircraft, including a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis. A large aircraft restoration facility was opened in the facility's basement; and, with the help of the public, the library & archives collection was reconstituted." http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/about_the_museum/history.php 

What I found interesting weas that they apparently used a metal detector to search the rubble and they were able to find and save Manfred Von Richtofen's medals ("The Red Baron"  - if you don't know your WWI history at least you will know him as Snoopy's adversary when Snoopy was "flying" his doghouse). The medals would otherwise have gone to the scrap heap. They were restored and there is a YouTube video showing them on display.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhLt4mHG0ZU 

Another museum that suffered a devastating fire was the Canadian Warplane Heritage in Mount Hope, Ontario (near Hamilton). 
"The museum suffered a devastating fire in 1993, which destroyed one of the museum's hangars and a number of aircraft, including a Spitfire, TBM Avenger, and an extremely rare Hurricane XII.  The museum recovered from this tragedy, however, and rose phoenix-like from the ashes of the fire to build a magnificent 108,000 square foot state of the art facility that can accomodate active aircraft, static aircraft, and restoration projects (currently including a Bolingbroke, Lysander, and Tracker).  The clean, brightly lit facility is excellent for photography."


Colin MacGregor Stevens,
Manager,
New Westminster Museum and Archives,
302 Royal Avenue,
New Westminster, BC,
V3L 1H7, Canada
 
Phone Office:    604-527-4639
Work Cellular :  604-830-6965
Fax:                    604-527-4641
E-mail: cstevens at newwestcity.ca 
Web Site: www.newwestminster.ca 
Normal work week: Sun-Thurs 9-5, OFF Fri-Sat.

The New Westminster Museum and Archives (NWMA) consists of:
   * City's Museum (est. 1950)
   * City's Archives
   * Irving House (built 1865)
   * Maintenance of the Samson V Maritime Museum (paddlewheel ship built 1937; museum since 1984)