Museum needs roof

The Glass Museum is looking for a little help from its friends.

The roof of the Dunkirk museum, which draws hundreds of tourists to Jay County every year, is leaking in several places.

“It’s in terrible shape,” Dunkirk Public Library board president John Crosbie said Friday.

Estimates on repair or replacement have been “all over the map,” said Crosbie.

But the best quote on a new roof has come in at a little over $30,000.

“We don’t have the money to do it,” said Crosbie. “We just put $20,000 in the library itself, and that left us short to do this other.”

The library building and the museum are physically connected, and the library board has jurisdiction over the museum property. 

Plans to move both the library and the museum’s collection of vintage glassware to the former Stewart Brothers Furniture building on Dunkirk’s Main Street were part of the city’s Stellar Communities application. But those plans have stalled in recent years after Dunkirk fell short of earning the Stellar designation.

Crosbie said he has contacted both The Portland Foundation and The Dunkirk Foundation “to see if there are avenues (for funding) there.”

He has also asked for a spot on Monday’s agenda for the Dunkirk City Council meeting in hopes that some of the economic development funds from NextEra’s Bluff Point Wind Energy Center might be tapped to cover the cost of a new roof.

“We want to maintain the museum,” said Crosbie. “But we’re left with bad choices.”