[CPProt.net] Newport: Oldest lending library's artifacts fall victim to fire, bad luck

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Oldest lending library's artifacts fall victim to fire, bad luck
December 6, 2005

NEWPORT, R.I. --One of the nation's oldest lending libraries is salvaging
thousands of water-logged colonial books and maps damaged in a fire near a
building where the artifacts were being stored.

Newport's Redwood Library and Athenaeum, a private library and research
center founded in 1747, is undergoing a yearlong, $6.2 million renovation.
Library director Cheryl Helms sent the rare books, historic maps, art and
furnishings to Artex Fine Art Services in Dedham, Mass., for safekeeping.

On Friday, a fire destroyed two buildings next door, including one that
shared a wall with the storage facility. Helms said Artex escaped the
flames, but was flooded with several inches of water.

"You have no idea how sick to my stomach I have been," said Helms, who waded
through the building herself. She had to convince a deputy fire chief to let
her in because of fears the fire would re-ignite.

"I basically went up to him and said, 'You don't understand. These are
priceless American artifacts, the earliest documented Windsor chairs in New
England, the Gov. Arnold chair that he sat in when the 1663 charter for the
Colony was given to him," she said.

Helms said her staff has not yet calculated the value of the damaged
material.

While the Redwood Library claims to be the nation's oldest lending library,
the Library Company of Philadelphia was founded by Benjamin Franklin and
others in 1731. The Philadelphia library is now a research institution, but
the Redwood continues to serve both academics and those looking for the
latest fiction.

The library did catch a few breaks.

As the fire spread, Artex's staff whisked several items to safety, including
Ezra Stile's 1758 series of Newport maps, some colonial silverware and an
18th-century Townsend table that had just returned from an exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

But at least 4,000 of the library's colonial books and 500 maps were soaked
and are now being evaluated by conservators.

Some of the damaged books and maps are being frozen to prevent mold and
mildew, Helms said.

The paper collectibles will be gradually thawed while a machine slowly
extracts the moisture, she said. The restoration process will be expensive.

"It's beyond our means. We're looking at insurance right now," Helms said.

Christa Balderacchi, a general manager for Artex, said she could not
immediately comment on the fire.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/