[NHCOLL-L:3660] Deep Freezing a Museum's Exhibit Hall

[Mary Beth Prondzinski]

Greetings:
 
My Vermont Victorian museum will need to replace its furnace in January, a
procedure requiring the heat be shut off for two weeks.  Where there is no
guarantee the ambient temperature will be/remain below freezing the entire
two weeks, we thought that the extended cold might help kill off any pest
activity that has been previously encountered.  Most of the specimens are in
glass and wood cases, but some of the larger taxidermy mounts are open to
the elements.  The main exhibit hall has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with the
historical/anthropological/ethnographic artifacts exhibited on the upper
level balcony, again encased in glass and wood.  
 
Would such an uncontrolled freeze be damaging to the artifacts/specimens as
long as they remained closed in their cases?  Would it be advisable to "bag"
the taxidermy mounts to contain them during the two-week freeze and
subsequent thaw?  Or would it be advisable to keep the ambient temperature
as consistent as possible (i.e. above freezing) during the two weeks without
central heat and use space heaters throughout the museum?  For the record:
the current ambient temperature of the museum is cold, regardless of the
furnace, because the building is very old and constructed of stone.
 
Has anyone ever experienced this in a museum setting???   Any ideas or
suggestions would be greatly appreciated...
 
Thanks!
 
Mary Beth Prondzinski
Director of Collections
Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium
1302 Main Street
St. Johnsbury, VT 05819
(802) 748-2372 x110
mprondzinski at fairbanksmuseum.org
 
http://fairbanksmuseum.org/
http://vermonttv.net/
 
 
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