The Michigan Iron Industry Museum announced this week that it is closed indefinitely because of roof damage caused by heavy snow.
Trusses supporting its main gallery roof began to crack on Feb. 21 because of snow, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources said Friday, March 20, in a press release. The museum website notes “The Michigan Iron Industry Museum is temporarily closed due to unforeseen circumstances.”
“The museum’s roof system was built to handle significant snow loads, but this season’s heavy snow, combined with drifts caused by windy conditions, has proved to be more than the structure could bear,” said Tobi Voigt, director of museums for the Michigan History Center.
Additional snow from the most recent storm has been removed, the DNR said. Emergency stabilization of the compromised trusses will begin Monday, March 23.
Museum officials said a local construction company removed 4-6 feet of snow from the roof.
“We are grateful to Mike Colleur from Colleur Construction and Will Rajala from WR Construction LLC for their teams’ hard work to clear the snow off the compromised roof,” said Troy Henderson, historian for the museum. “They did it all from a lift extended above the roof so as not to add additional weight. It was a massive endeavor.”
This winter has been deemed extreme by weather researchers. A storm this past week dumped 52 inches in parts of the U.P., and more than 3 feet in the Marquette area.
Located 8 miles west of Marquette, the Michigan Iron Industry Museum, on the site of the first iron manufactory in the Lake Superior region, tells the story of Michigan’s three iron ranges and the people who worked them, through exhibits, audio-visual programs and outdoor interpretive trails.
The Michigan History Center, part of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, co-manages the museum with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. The museum is a subunit of Van Riper State Park, which is coordinating the emergency response with support from the MHC.
The work beginning March 23 will stabilize the damaged trusses to prevent full roof collapse, the DNR said. After that, a thorough evaluation of the entire roof system will take place to ensure no additional damage has been sustained and determine what long-term fixes are needed, up to and including roof redesign and replacement.
Once the roof is stabilized, museum staff will remove artifacts and exhibit casework from the museum’s main gallery and safely store them until the permanent repairs are completed.
“We were able to remove several important historical artifacts from areas we could access safely, including materials related to the Barnes-Hecker mining disaster,” said Barry James, historian for the museum.
The museum historians are working to reschedule spring programs and school field trips.
“At this point, we don’t know when we will be able to reopen safely,” Henderson said.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Heavy snow damages U.P. museum roof. What happened in Negaunee
Reporting by Dan Basso, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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