By Charles Lefebvre

Preparation key for museums to avoid loss of artifacts

Sep 6, 2018 | 5:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The recent disaster at Brazil’s National Museum is prompting museums and historical sites around the world to take a closer look at their emergency plans.

On Sept. 2, the museum, which contained more than 20 million artifacts, caught fire. Museum officials believe 90 per cent of the collection, which spans 11,000 years of world history, has been lost.

It’s a disaster that is in the minds of archivists and museum officials in Medicine Hat.

“It’s something we don’t want to think about, but it’s something that we actively make a point to think about it,” said Philip Pype, archivist for the City of Medicine Hat.

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Archives for the city and region are quite substantive, with Pype saying if the archive boxes in storage were placed end to end, the total length would be roughly one kilometre. The Esplanade also holds 20,000 museum artifacts and 1,500 art pieces, which showcase how the city has evolved.

Pype says staff are trained to be aware of potential dangers to the collection, observe any changes and protect materials. He adds the building, opened in 2005, also helps protect the artifacts.

“It is a concrete, steel and brick building, which definitely provides a level of protection from fire, tornado, and other disasters from outside the building,” he said.

Pype adds “We’ve got things like a zoned sprinkler system. We’re back in collections right now, but if there was a fire in this area, the sprinklers above this area would engage. But for example, the sprinkler system at the other end where the art collection is stored wouldn’t engage, so the damage would be minimized.”

The Esplanade has been spared from disaster since in opened in 2005, but Pype adds staff are prepared to get the museum back in order should one occur.

“Once the building was secure, and the fire department determined it was safe, we have the training, the ability and the equipment to begin recovery,” he said.

In 2013, Medalta was significantly damaged after the South Saskatchewan River flooded. No artifacts were lost, but the disaster made the organization think more about what they need to do to be prepared for a disaster.

“It sounds pessimistic, but we spend a lot of time thinking about disaster preparedness,” said Aaron Nelson, executive director of Medalta. “One of the things that motivates us is there’s been a lot of disasters on site.”

Following the 2013 flood, the provincial government and the Alberta Museums Association helped provide funding to help Medalta be prepared for a future disaster. Among the initiatives undertaken are 3D printing of industrial equipment, as well as digitizing paper documents, such as technical illustrations

“If they were ever lost to fire or a flood, we would still have the actual copy of the document,” said Nelson.

For both Pype and Nelson, preparation is key to ensure history is available for people in the future.

“Our job as a museum is to collect these objects, inventory them, learn about them, so we can reflect them back to the people of Alberta, and the people of Canada,” said Nelson.

“It’s not all about storage, it’s about making it accessible to the public, as well as for many generations to come,” said Pype.