Smithsonian Institution’s roof collapses

February 11th, 2010 - 8:59 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

smiths-roof1 Maryland, Feb 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The historic Smithsonian Institution faced a unique problem on Wednesday, when the roof and the wall of a storage facility collapsed. The Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland collapsed and exposed the artifacts to the weather elements. Parts of the building are still standing, and the artifacts in the storage facility are now being exposed to freezing temperatures. However the Smithsonian Institution officials are still not very worried about the fate of the artifacts because they say, all the entities are kept in boxes or protective crates.

The Garber Preservation, Restoration and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland houses roughly 1,500 artifacts from the National Air and Space Museum. This storage facility has got parts of flown aircraft, spacecraft and about 800 pieces of aviation and space-themed artwork. The artifacts are from different eras, which range from the space shuttle program to the Apollo era. And all the artifacts, which were there in the storage facility, are deemed to be very valuable.

According to Smithsonian spokeswoman Claire Brown, “Right now, the building is still standing. We’re confident the portion of the collection that’s in there is OK. Artwork in the building, including posters, paintings and sculpture, was kept in a sealed, insulated box”, Brown said.

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