The Cayman Islands National Museum is slowly but surely getting back on its feet following the major blow it took from Hurricane Ivan.
‘There is a lot of cause for optimism,’ said Assistant Director Debra Barnes-Tabora. ‘The Old Courts Building on Harbour Drive (The Museum) is being restored in a completely authentic way, the culture and heritage of the country is being preserved and we will soon return to the people a building that is precisely Caymanian.’ Mrs. Barnes-Tabora said
Workers spruce up The Cayman Islands National Museum. Photo: Justin Uzzell |
They are now aiming to re-open the museum in the first quarter of next year.
Staff at the museum has faced some significant challenges since 12 September, 2004.
The hurricane damaged the main building on the waterfront.
However the storm also had a significant impact on another museum building; flood waters entered the main storage facility on North Sound Way.
This support facility housed many of the Nation’s artefacts and when museum staff reported to work after Ivan, they found a watery mess that quickly turned mouldy.
The workers had no time to try to salvage their own homes and possessions; they had to fight to save the Nation’s patrimony. Cayman’s cultural treasures were at risk and some artefacts were even destroyed in the rising water.
‘The museum’s natural history collection suffered the most damage. More than 70 taxidermy specimens were de-accessioned,’ (destroyed and removed from the collection) explained Mrs. Barnes-Tabora.
About 100 paintings were also affected by the flood waters.
She explained that ‘professional expertise is being used to restore the museum’s collections and it is a lengthy process that is still on-going. The Museum is due to receive shortly some 30 paintings sent overseas for specialist conservation treatment.’
So how safe are the artefacts now?
After the storm, the Museum abandoned the old facility and moved into a building next to Pasadora Place off Smith Road. This single story structure is also in a low lying area and the previous tenant, Gold’s Gym, also got flooded in Ivan and literally went under; they closed up after the storm.
Mrs. Barnes-Tabora said measures are being taken to further enhance the strength of the structure.
‘The museum has taken precautions to ensure all doorways are caulked and sealed to minimise the potential for water penetration and additionally, careful attention is paid to the storage of the museum’s artefacts. They are stored according to their susceptibility to water damage, with those less affected stored closer to floor level.’
For several months, conservators have been hard at work in the Old Court’s Building and over the course of the restoration some discoveries have been made that are adding new layers of knowledge to the history of the building.
The old wattle and daub structure on the waterfront was previously believed to be at least 150 years old, but scientists recently uncovered a layer of hand cut stones that appear to push the age of the building way back to the dawn of settlement in Grand Cayman. A conservator from Jamaica has compared the newly discovered architectural features to historic sites in other parts of the Caribbean and has theorised that the building may once have been used as an ammunitions storage facility.
While peeling back layer after layer of old paint and plaster, the conservators also came across an even more intriguing find.
Ancient writing was revealed; graffiti that is believed to have been written down long ago by prisoners who spent time in the building’s jail.
Mrs. Barnes-Tabora said that two Cuban conservators recently came down to help with the restoration and some more writing has been found.
‘Flavio and Logan are the new names we can see and we expect more details will be uncovered about their stories as we continue the work,’ she said.
The Museum is planning to host a major exhibition to coincide with the re-opening of the building and Barnes-Tabora is hoping the hard work will pay off and will ‘re-instate the museum in its rightful place as a leader in the preservation of Caymanian culture and heritage.’
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