A leaky roof and reports of mold have shut down the Faulkner County Museum until repairs can be completed.

The Museum is housed in the oldest publicly owned building in Faulkner County, which was already slated for a major interior renovation when mold was found in a storage room. That interior renovation is on hold until roof repairs can be finished. Museum Director Lynita Langley-Ware said no timeframe has been given regarding a reopening date, and she explained:

During the summer, we noticed the flat roof was leaking … again. When they got up on the roof, they noticed there was a problem with the masonry. Water was getting into the brick, leaking into the first-floor ceiling.

Then we had a mold outbreak — not black mold but just penicillin — in a real isolated place — a storage room. We informed the county officials, and we closed the museum on August 15.

Langley-Ware said the Museum cannot reopen until the mold is cleaned up, but no exhibits or materials have been ruined or destroyed. “It’s just the air quality that is not conducive to having the public in the building,” she said. “We closed it to be safe.” She has moved her office to the Faulkner County Courthouse until the Museum reopens.

The Museum will still hold its outdoor Open House, set for November 5, and is selling Christmas ornaments and memorial bricks to raise money for their upcoming renovations and other projects.