Discovery Center in needs new roof

“The outline of the building, looking at the front of it, you can see there’s a good slope on certain sections,” said Purcell. Those sections are sound. “But the central river gallery, which is right as you walk through the front doors, that big hall, has a flat roof. And on (the west) end of the building, which is a café and part of the exhibits.”

During rain and snow conditions water can accumulate on the flat portions of the roof. Dan Anderson, building and facilities manager, said four inches of water can accumulate.

Minor fixes with tar and sealant have been used for the past 12 years but water always seems to find its way in, said Anderson.

“We feel like at a minimum we’ll need $250,000 and at a maximum it may be well over $300,000,” said Purcell. “So, we’re fundraising. We want to get the word out to everybody and ask them to contribute. We have currently $134,000 raised from individual contributions, which is amazing. But we’ve got quite a bit further to go.”

The west wing of the museum houses the Cargo of Lewis and Clark exhibit, the Basalt Rock Café and office space. The central river gallery usually doesn’t have any displays but is used for events, such as weddings.

“The reason why the (west wing) is the first priority is because of the structural damage. Part of it is over the café and the offices but part of it is also over the exhibits, where there are artifacts. It’s really important to get that fixed,” said Purcell. “The (central river gallery) is also very important to our business because we have events in there and it’s really embarrassing in the middle of winter to have buckets sitting around because the roof is leaking.”

Lenard Olson, a dedicated volunteer, said part of the structural damage is due to freezing water.

“Part of the problem is we have internal drains with water freezing, contracting and moving back and forth,” said Olson.

“These areas around those drains take a lot of pressure and they separate sometimes and that’s why we end up patching as much as we can,” he explained.

The roof currently has three drains, which is not adequate to move the water that accumulates there. The proposed new design will have five drains capable of removing more water quicker.

Purcell said she’s faced water leaking through her office, and had to move office materials and computers out of harm’s way.

In one instance Anderson was called to the museum in the wee hours of the morning because of water damage.

“We’ve had it where it’s actually shorted out a couple smoke detectors, and I’d be here in at three in the morning because water had seeped in, hit a smoke detector and set it off,” said Anderson. “I had to meet the fire department here to find out what was actually going on and we found out water was dripping out of the smoke detector.”

Rebuild time is estimated to be under a month with ideal weather conditions, said Olson.

“If it’s good weather it wouldn’t take long at all; two weeks, three weeks max,” said Olson. “But if we have a rain storm, or sunshine and then a rainstorm, it could take longer.”

The museum has reached out to current and past members through mailings and plans on spreading the word with radio spots and newspaper ads.