Museum clean up continues

Hot Springs County was extremely lucky the fire at the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center a couple of weeks ago not only put itself out, but was contained to the kitchen area.

As it is, the museum is expected to remain closed for approximately three more weeks as the clean up continues.

Varney Clean Care has been at the museum every day since the fire, extracting the water from the carpeting, using ion blowers in an attempt to eliminate the smoke smell and painting and repairing.

Within a few hours of the fire, the water in the carpet had been removed and dryers set up to try to save it if possible. Unfortunately, the carpeting in the entryway will have to be replaced all the way back to the stagecoach room.

On the bright side, however, museum board members said it will make it look like a whole new museum once they’re finished.

All of the work in the basement is completed and now its down to the volunteers working with Varney Clean Care to remove the smoke residue from the exhibits. The company worked with the volunteers, showing them, step by step, how to properly clean everything without damaging any of the historical pieces.

At this time the museum doesn’t need any help from the public with the cleaning process, however, they did indicate there may be a need for extra hands when it comes time to putting everything back in place. In fact, they said they may be moving some exhibits around since everything will be out of them.