10-8-99 Random Thoughts Rocky Mount Children's Museum

For those of you that haven't heard of the plight of the flooded out Rocky Mount N.C. Children's
Museum, here is a summation of what was sent
to CHILD_MUSE list. Sorry for any cross posting.
When I got home from Rocky Mount my mind was rolling over with all the visions and notes that I
took that I could not even put it into any
cohesive form. It's like reliving a night mare where fragments keep popping in and out of your
mind confusing yourself of what you really saw.
All I can call these are Random thoughts of the flood and what's left of a Children's Museum.
Random Thought's
It's been 21 days sense hurricane Floyd ravaged the coast of Carolina and Virginia. Candy said
that she felt it would be safe to come that day so
I arranged to meet her at the Children's Museum of Rocky Mount to see what help she needed to
return the Museum to some sort of normalcy . I
can't say exactly what I expected to find. Having lived through the Ash Wednesday flood of 1962
in Virginia Beach and having 36" of water in
the living room I guess I thought I would see allot of furniture and exhibits in place but wet
and dirty.
Random Thought's
Arriving in Rocky Mount at 8:30 AM on Friday October 8, it looked much like any town with people
hustling around. Little signs of where water
had been were seen around town but until I turned on to River Road it seemed like everything was
reasonably ok. Seeing a mattress in a tree at
12 foot above the grass, small pieces of clothing and pieces of furniture wrapped around trees.
The baby doll with it's head jammed into the fork
of a tree with its feet looking to tough the ground but coming up about nine feet short.
Random Thought's
Seeing a once nine foot tall tennis fence bent over at a forty five degree angle with the
remnants of a once proud tree at its base with piles of
sawdust all around to remind you of its once enormous size. A man in, a pare of overalls, with a
fire hose washing mud off the tennis courts.
Small three-foot high fences that made you look twice because they at first glance looked like a
brick walls covered in dead ivy. As it turned out
the chain link fence was covered in dead grass and debris so you could hardly even see through
it.
Random Thought's
Turning on to Taylor Street the damage became more obvious. Rows and rows of houses with all
windows and doors removed. You could see
inside of the houses and see the bare studs void of any finish what so ever. What use to be
kitchens that had a few pieces of pipe sticking out
of the studs, void of all fixtures and equipment carpets, ceilings, nothing inside but studs. It
appeared that the brick exterior walls were holding
up a tree farm of bare studs. Large chunks of what was once a front yards missing because the
bulldozers not only picked up the debris but the
grass immediately under the monstrous blades. "Modern Ghost Towns".
Random Thought's
Turning on to Gay street, the street of the Children's museum. The obvious ring of mud around
the roof lines of the houses on the left. A pile of
rubbish in front of a brick building that had that same ring of disaster around it. Shrubs with
what looked like Spanish moss hanging from them.
(I'm A Florida boy so it seemed like I was back on the OAKEY-FINOKIE Swamp). Not so as it was
dead grass and leaves matted into a blanket
covering what once were green shrubs.  The small sign that said Rocky Mount Children's Museum
with a mud ring above it, made it clear that I
had arrived. Small piles of debris covered the scrape marks of the previous numerous bulldozer
teeth marks that were over the entire front yard.
Candy arrived and said Mr. Greaves?  No shaking of hands but the most incredible warm hug you
could have imagined. You could see it in her
eyes and expression. I've lost  my life! I lost my Museum!
Random Thought's
Walking into the museum I expected to see a lot of casework / exhibits ripped apart swelling
from the water and covered with mud like my house
was. Not so. It was worse. No exhibits. No walls just bare studs standing as proud soldiers
guarding the exhibits that were once there. Concrete
block with furring strips swollen out of shape. No finish at all. White ceiling grid system with
some rusted light fixtures hanging precariously
from thin wires. No ceiling tiles, no ductwork just bare nothing. Electrical boxes hanging from
the ceiling waiting to be reattached to the exhibits
that are gone. Room after room Candy described what was there and all that was left are blank
wet smelly walls covered in a thin layer of mud
that still needed to be washed off. The FEMA crews threw away everything as contaminated
material. Not even Candy's camera made it out of
her desk. All... The WHOLE MUSEUM hauled off as contaminated trash.
Random Thought's
Looking into the room that held the cages of the animals. Seeing the two cages with glass and
metal frames that held the seven-foot alligator and
python. Wire mesh at eight feet to prevent even the most experience climber from excapeing the
cage and the ominous nine-foot water mark
around the room over the cages.
Candy said that after the water had subsided to about 36 inches one of her staff,  Pregnant with
her third child, broke into the building and
wading feverously through hip deep floating debris. The debris acting as floating sea mines to
prevent her from getting to the cages of animals
to see how they fared. The sight of 16 of the 18 animals drowned in their cages must have been
hard to swallow. The alligator was so traumatized
that she let Steve tape her mouth shut and clean her cage with out ever moving. I guess she was
waiting for the next wave of water to come in.
How she and the Boa survived with the fact that the water was one foot higher than the steel
cage roof was remarkable. Busted cages with
bedding material still inside waited outside to be hauled off with the other junk. No small
reminder of the animal that use to be inside.

Random Thought's
The incredibly musty smell, even with every fan going at full speed, windows wide open and two
weeks sense the water resented, was still hard
to take. It smelled like a few toilets had backed up and need cleaning. Candy or Steve noticed
my sniffing and said you should have been here
when we first got in. It would gag a horse. Looking at the floor tiles that had the appearance
of blooming flowers with the ends all curled up and
muddy. The room gave the appearance of a large Lilly pond, The reality of course is that they
should be flat to the concrete.

Random Thought's
Walking into the planetarium and seeing what I first thought was a modern dome on a 45-degree
angle, proved to be a shock. The water was so
high that it lifted the twenty-foot diameter solid dome and as the water receded dropped one end
to the floor. Just re-outfitted in July of 1999 all
is gone including one of only three left in the world. A View Lex Model Apollo Planetarium
scape. All new seats, surround sound, projectors and
even the floor and wall finishes, Gone.
Random Thought's, The worst was yet to come
Entering the really old warehouse several blocks from the museum were faint shadows of items
laid in neat rows. When Steve hit the lights you
could see little sections of items arranged into groups, laid in fifty to sixty feet long rows,
six to seven rows deep. It occupied about eight to nine
hundred square feet of space including a two foot wide isle between rows. To the immediate right
you could make out rows of theatrical lights
and stage props all in a row. This came from the theater and like the Museum went under water.
Random Thought's
When we approached the items Candy indicated that these Items were from the collections and were
placed in two large tractor trailer type
containers as the museum was planning for an expansion and the items were placed into the
containers for protection.. As the rains came and the
flood waters started, one container washed down the street until it hit a utility pole and sank.
The second floated for awhile, rolled over then
sank. This is when I noticed Candy's expression change. Looking at the items and all that was
left of her museum It looked like to me that we
were in a morgue looking at someone's life on a slab. This is all she had left. A nine hundred
square foot rectangle of wet rusty mud covered
items.
Random Thought's
At lunch with Candy and Steve. Candy said that she was lucky because she didn't loose her house
and all her furniture as some of her staff did.
She only lost the museum. After awhile she said that she wished it was her house instead of the
museum because she only sleeps and eats in the
house, The museum was her life.

Random Thought's
" Up from the grave he arose" With all the tragedy Candy has a good outlook. She reminds me of
one of the guards in uniform standing guard
over the queen's palace. Her suit might be soiled but not her spirit. She is a survivor and with
all of our help I think we can help her and the
museum. Each baby step will lead to the next larger step. Candy's first priority is to complete
all the paper work for FEMA, the insurance
company and anything required of the City of Rocky Mount. Her next step is to find a new home on
higher ground, away from the flood plane
where the museum now lies. Like she said, fool me once but not twice. I'm going to higher
ground. (Sound Familiar ?)
When Candy finished her list and her employees, who lost homes and jobs finish there list, I
will publish it so anyone with special talents or gifts
can lend a hand. I have contacted AYM about setting up a fund where all monetary contributions
can be sent so look for it in the near future.
Please do not send money to me. I'm just running interference, handling the paperwork, work
groups and coordinating what ever candy might
need. You can send any questions to me and I'll  get them answered but all monies will go to
AYM.

I have already arranged for three groups to take care and restore as best they can the small
train sets, metal toys and wood toys. Off hand I know
we will need someone who can take the following exhibit items and restore them as best they can.
1.      The View Lex Model APOLLO. This is electric driven Planetarium device but uses a plastic
plate that looks like a old music box plate with
raised bumps that turn on and off the lights, switch slides etc. This will need repairing.
2.      @. The Thomas Edison exhibits are in several plastic covered boxes with some artifacts
in
them. Wax cylinders, light bulbs phonograph etc.
Candy even has a original signature from him. ( One of the few items that FEMA didn't get) It's
hard to see inside as there is allot of mud
inside the cases. Needs immediate care.
3.      Need information on preservation and restoration on cloth and paper items. Taxidermy
cleaning for several stuffed animals.
4.      Proper cleaning of large format plastic.
5.      Anyone that has been through this before. Whatever help & instructions you can give me
on
cleaning etc.

The enclosed picture cant express the loss. The water is almost gone. Look at the front door. It
is seven foot high. Make a mark two foot higher
than the door, almost touching the brick over the door and that was the high water line. The
second picture looking towards the museum the
water was up to the eaves of the houses on the left.

More to come! Comments to
Bill Greaves President
Architects iN Design
1232 Wivenhoe Court
Va. Beach, Virginia 23454
[log in to unmask]
(757) 496-6489


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