WATSONTOWN, Pa. — Last Wednesday, Erica Frey received a call she never expected regarding the Watsontown Area Historical Museum.
"The ceiling fell. All of it. The whole north side is laying across the cases. It's really bad," Erica Frey said.
This is what it looked like when volunteers got there. Frey says the original plaster ceiling is from the 1860s. Back in the 1950s, when this was a bank, a second tile ceiling was added, and then a drop ceiling with tiles and lights.
"We're assuming that the weight of those things over a hundred-year period and only being fixed or fastened with straight nails, it just gave way," Frey said.
No one was hurt, and there was minimal damage to the artifacts.
"The fact that we had so little damage to just a few calendars and frames and a flag pole was bent, but those are all easily replaced things," Diana Johnson said.
Newswatch 16 stopped by the museum in August as it was about to open. Now, it will close for repairs.
"It's kind of like bittersweet because you're finally getting things rolling, and now obviously you're at a standstill," Frey said.
"We literally put blood, sweat, and tears into this building for months prior to opening. We had some tears, but now the tears are over, and it's time to start the work," Johnson said.
The group hopes to reopen the museum next spring.