HAINES — The roof wasn’t too bad — until it got really bad.

“If it got any worse, it was really going to be serious,” Chris Aldrich said of the leaking roof at the Eastern Oregon Museum in Haines. “We had buckets from one end of the gym to the other.”

Aldrich is the board president and organizes youth outreach for the museum, 610 Third St. The building was used as the school gymnasium from 1931 to 1945, and the museum opened in the space in 1959.

With 65 years worth of history to preserve, the museum board went to work on a new roof.

“We sounded the alarm,” Aldrich said. “People have entrusted those (artifacts) to use and we want to take care of them.”

The community responded.

“It’s just been amazing,” she said. “Countless community members stepped up with contributions.”

A rummage sale held in September 2023, along with a membership campaign and quilt raffle, raised money for the project, and the museum received grants from the Leo Adler Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation and The Roundhouse Foundation.

Cost for the roof and gutters was $50,000.

The museum volunteers first noticed the leaking roof in the spring of 2023, and repairs were finished in December of the same year.

“There was a great deal of rot, which is how the water was getting in,” Aldrich said.

In addition to the new roof, the building has a new gutter system, new front door and new windows should be installed after July 4.

The museum opens for the season on May 25. Regular hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., through Labor Day weekend. Admission is free, and donations are welcome.

The museum depends on volunteers, and Aldrich said docents are needed on Saturdays to greet visitors and share information about the various exhibits.

For more information, send an email to easternoregonmuseum@gmail.com.

Open house

The museum will have a community appreciation open house on Monday, May 27, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Visitors can learn about the completed roof project and see two Gary Ernest Smith paintings that are on special display in connection with Smith’s “Towards Home” show at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center in Baker City.