LIVINGSTON — The Yellowstone Gateway Museum in Livingston was forced to close more than a week ago after a pipe burst inside the building.
"Like everywhere else, we got quite cold in Livingston a couple of weeks ago," says Executive Director Mark Brammer.
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Brammer has worked at the Yellowstone Gateway Museum for four years, but his museum experience goes back to age nine, when he first started volunteering.
"I just love them. They’re such a great way to bring the community together and really help a community find its identity—knowing where they came from and where they’re going," he says.
Brammer explains that over President’s Day weekend, a frozen pipe burst on the lower level of the museum.
"So, when this pipe burst, it unfortunately ran through the electrical panel and filled the basement with between six inches and no water depending on the floor level," he says.
The basement houses the staff area, restroom, as well as the archives and research room.
Brammer says, "So, most of our things were off the floor. Now, where it got into the six-inch-deep water we did have some archives that got wet. So, we’re working with conservators and restoration companies to get those hopefully dried out."
He says that staff is still in the early stages of assessing the damage to the over 120-year-old building.
"It’s kind of bringing to the forefront some of the infrastructure problems when you’re in a building from 1906. We’re running out of space and looking at, can these problems be fixed or rehabilitated here? Or, what we’re thinking and what the community is thinking—is that we could use a new space," Brammer says.
The museum’s nonprofit foundation may soon look into raising money for this new building—to better house the rich history and research of Park County.
Visit their website to see how you can help.
