The Mennonite Heritage Village is facing some challenges with its leaky rook.

Assistant Curator Jenna Klassen says this is not a new problem but, lately, it has been getting progressively worse. the village centre is 30 years old and, in that time, the roof has started to deteriorate. She adds there are at least 10 to 12 active leaks throughout the gallery and artefact storage area.

"It’s primarily affecting our storage room where we keep all of our that are not on display and so that has been a big challenge this spring," says Klassen. 

Luckily, she notes only a few maps have suffered damage so far but adds they continue to discover new leaks and on a more frequent basis. 

Klassen says to prevent further damage, they are now draping their storage shelving with plastic tarps and have placed buckets throughout the gallery to collect the dripping water.  

Buckets have been placed throughout the village centre to collect water dripping from the ceiling

"More than once a day, we’re checking to make sure there are no new leaks and, in the gallery specifically, that means if there is an active leak, then we have to move around the artefacts and make sure that they are not getting damage from that."

Executive Director Gary Dyck says they have to re-tar the flat portions of the roof which comes at a cost of over 100 thousand dollars. Because the building is mainly used for administration purposes, he explains it makes it more difficult to apply for grants compared to a historic building on their museum grounds.  

MHV's annual general meeting is next Tuesday and Dyck adds there will be no additional funds from the budget that will be allocated for this project noting they need all the money in their budget to operate the museum. Dyck says they have a fundraiser coming up in May to raise funds for the costly roof repairs.