Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:40 pm
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080622/NEWS/806220333/-1/THEMES
Cultural sites reeling from floods
By MICHAEL MORAIN • mmorain@dmreg.com • June 22, 2008
Matt Losch waded through the murky floodwaters in the basement of Theatre Cedar Rapids to retrieve letters for the marquee out front. He removed the old message and replaced it with a song title from the theater's upcoming show, "High School Musical."
The words pretty much sum up the situation: "We're All in This Together."
It was the first time he had been back in the theater since the flood. Water had filled the basement dressing rooms, covered the stage, and soaked all but the last three rows of seats. It was just one of the theaters and museums to sustain losses during devastating floods across the state. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were the hardest-hit areas.
Offices at the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra are ruined, and a few doors down from that, workers dragged the historic Paramount Theatre's Mighty Wurlitzer organ off the slimy stage and out the back door.
The organ was installed in 1928 when the theater was built and accompanied countless silent movies and concerts. But when floodwaters rose 8½ feet above the stage, the current lifted the 1,000-pound instrument and dropped it on the floor. Despite efforts to dry it out and find replacement parts, it may remain silent.
"Their loss is our loss," said Rob Merritt of Theatre Cedar Rapids, who helped rewrite the marquee. "We wanted to put something up that said, 'Hey, we're behind you.' "
Reports from the counties declared state disaster areas indicate that damage to museums and cultural sites has been "widespread and devastating," according to the Iowa Museum Association. Artwork and historic artifacts are ruined in sites stretching like a string of pearls from the unusual Ice House Museum in Cedar Falls to the George M. Verity River Museum in Keokuk, where an 80-year-old steamboat plunged from its dry dock into the swollen Mississippi River.
"It's not good," said State Historical Society curator Jerome Thompson. "Museums maintain our collective identity. When they experience loss or damage like this, it's as if we all lost family albums or letters from grandma."
Although the inventories in each museum are different, the ordeals are the same. No one had enough time. No one expected the waters to rise so high. And no one knows what will happen next.
(snipped)
HARRY BAUMERT/THE REGISTER
Jason Anderson, events manager for the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, checks the Wurlitzer, which is tipped on its back on the muddied stage.
Cultural sites reeling from floods
By MICHAEL MORAIN • mmorain@dmreg.com • June 22, 2008
Matt Losch waded through the murky floodwaters in the basement of Theatre Cedar Rapids to retrieve letters for the marquee out front. He removed the old message and replaced it with a song title from the theater's upcoming show, "High School Musical."
The words pretty much sum up the situation: "We're All in This Together."
It was the first time he had been back in the theater since the flood. Water had filled the basement dressing rooms, covered the stage, and soaked all but the last three rows of seats. It was just one of the theaters and museums to sustain losses during devastating floods across the state. Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were the hardest-hit areas.
Offices at the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra are ruined, and a few doors down from that, workers dragged the historic Paramount Theatre's Mighty Wurlitzer organ off the slimy stage and out the back door.
The organ was installed in 1928 when the theater was built and accompanied countless silent movies and concerts. But when floodwaters rose 8½ feet above the stage, the current lifted the 1,000-pound instrument and dropped it on the floor. Despite efforts to dry it out and find replacement parts, it may remain silent.
"Their loss is our loss," said Rob Merritt of Theatre Cedar Rapids, who helped rewrite the marquee. "We wanted to put something up that said, 'Hey, we're behind you.' "
Reports from the counties declared state disaster areas indicate that damage to museums and cultural sites has been "widespread and devastating," according to the Iowa Museum Association. Artwork and historic artifacts are ruined in sites stretching like a string of pearls from the unusual Ice House Museum in Cedar Falls to the George M. Verity River Museum in Keokuk, where an 80-year-old steamboat plunged from its dry dock into the swollen Mississippi River.
"It's not good," said State Historical Society curator Jerome Thompson. "Museums maintain our collective identity. When they experience loss or damage like this, it's as if we all lost family albums or letters from grandma."
Although the inventories in each museum are different, the ordeals are the same. No one had enough time. No one expected the waters to rise so high. And no one knows what will happen next.
(snipped)
HARRY BAUMERT/THE REGISTER
Jason Anderson, events manager for the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, checks the Wurlitzer, which is tipped on its back on the muddied stage.
Bruce Calvert
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com
http://www.silentfilmstillarchive.com