David Hamilton couldn’t believe his eyes. The video of what was happening to the Pagosa Springs History Museum kept him awake at night — literally.
Hamilton serves as the president of the museum’s board of directors and his mind filled with what was going to be lost.
“The first time I saw it, I couldn’t believe it,” Hamilton said. “All night long, I was waking up in my sleep thinking, ‘It’s toppled into the river. We’ve lost the whole thing.’”
Hamilton had good reason to be concerned. About half of the museum was on solid ground. The other half? A river raged under it.
“I originally thought, from the outside, that we had lost about a third of the contents of the museum,” Hamilton said.
That assessment, though, changed for the better when Hamilton got a look inside.
“We lost what was in a custodial closet, and we lost our restroom,” Hamilton said. “The toilet paper is still hanging on the wall, but everything else (from the restroom) is gone. We lost a farming and ranching display, but we were able to get in and move much of what was on the east side of the building back to the other side of the building.”
Hamilton explained a crew was working at the museum Tuesday to install beams to reinforce the building. Crews will also be hard at work to finish moving exhibits and artifacts out of the teetering building into storage.
“Thankfully it hasn’t toppled,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know that it will topple. The structure in there is pretty solid. I’m really pleased with what we’ve been able to save.”
Hamilton, a retired administrator and principal of Pagosa Springs High School, saw one of his students this week while shopping. What Hamilton saw on that student’s phone put things in perspective.
“He showed me a picture of his house,” Hamilton said. “It was completely underwater. I thought, ‘Things are bad at the museum, but they aren’t that bad. We haven’t lost it all.’”
What’s different about the museum, though, is that its contents just aren’t replaceable.
“If it was just stuff, that’d be one thing,” Hamilton said, “but it’s stuff that is near and dear to many people.”
As the flood waters recede and cleanup begins, Hamilton and his colleagues at the museum are already thinking about what comes next.
Hamilton made it clear that it is their intention to rebuild and reopen.
“Back in the 1970s, our forefathers thought that it would be valuable to have a museum,” he said. “With their sweat labor, they put together that museum. I feel like we need to continue in their footsteps and make sure we get this rebuilt somewhere, somehow, so that we can continue the legacy they set before us.”
For more information on the museum, including how to donate, visit www.pagosamuseum.org.
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