The American Museum is having to put back its seasonal opening date this year because of the damage caused by a leaking radiator.
Membership secretary Susan Hill has told me : “On Saturday 3 March at around 5pm, a radiator in the American Museum in Britain leaked, causing water ingress into some period rooms on the east side of the Museum.
The period rooms Lee, Greek Revival and Conkey’s Tavern and some objects in them were affected; as well as the respective electrical and heating systems.
The leak was quickly brought under control by Museum staff, and collection items were moved into safe and secure spaces. During this emergency response and salvage operation no one was hurt.
The rooms and objects have now been fully assessed by a team of specialists, and we can confirm that some collection objects have been removed from the Museum for conservation work. There has been some damage to the manor house itself, which we will be attending to in the coming weeks, in line with a building of this age (the manor house is one of Bath’s hidden Georgian gems, built in 1820).
As a result of this unforeseen work, we will be delaying the opening of the Museum this year, and our WW1 exhibition, which commemorates a hundred years since America’s first military involvement in the Great War, to Thursday 29 March.
This decision has not been taken lightly and, although we are disappointed to delay our opening, our first priority is the safety of visitors and of course the unique objects and building in our care.”
I am sorry to hear this and hope that all will be well. Ironically, here in the US, our water has been off since last Thursday due to storms. You may have gotten our share since we certainly don’t have it, although there is now snow coming down–