A Four State National Park is in recovery-mode after an accident put multiple exhibits in danger.
While the weather was heating up this weekend, this may have caused a problem with the fire suppression system at the National Historic Site. Now staff are working around the clock to salvage their artifacts from potential water damage.
Hayley Moore, National Historic Site Technician, said, “It’s their worst nightmare.”
As the Winter weather came to a close, communities were celebrating the warmer conditions. But not everyone got a chance.
“We had our fire suppression systems sprinklers go off in multiple museums areas, they went off in our sergeant’s quarters. Our married and not on commission officer’s quarters, and our laundress quarters.”
As the ceiling leaked, the National Historic Site staff were running to make sure they could preserve as many of the artifacts as they could.
“We’re incredibly lucky that our staff who were on-site to help respond to this, thought and worked as quickly as possible to have this outcome.”
Unfortunately they’re not out of the woods yet. The site is now in repair mode, working with several departments within the National Park Service.
“We’re working closely with our regional curator and our museum specialist as well as curators over at Harpers Ferry Center in Charles Town West Virginia.”
To make sure they can retain the history the city of Fort Scott is so proud of.
Arnold Schofield, Fort Scott Resident, said, “There are other buildings that are in town now that are on the national register, so this historic ethic in Fort Scott about preservation, has been around a long time.”
And making sure their history is still around, for years to come.
“This town holds us in such high regards, it’s a little bit of pressure to ensure this gets done right, but its also giving us more motivation to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to keep this place going for our public,” said Moore.
Unfortunately due to potential water damage, the National Historic Site has decided to close the Dragoon Barracks for the time being. This is so the park can assess and repair any damage the leaks might caused. People can still visit the rest of the National Historic Site, but for now the Dragoon Barracks can only be visited virtually.