The Sault Ste. Marie Museum can’t seem to catch a break this month.
Just several days after its historic tower bell had been cleaned from a tagged graffiti marking, museum staff discovered their artifact had been nailed again Tuesday morning — this time with a paint marker.
“For it to happen again is a shame,” says museum executive director Will Hollingshead. “One of our workshop participants came in this morning and let us know it had been re-graffitied. It was less invasive this time, but still very disappointing.”
“We’re looking at people graffitiing historical artifacts that are meant to shine and represent the community and the city to our people that live here, as well as tourists who are coming here. People are obviously wanting to express themselves through graffiti, but to have it on a historical artifact really isn’t appropriate.”
Constructed in 1912, the 370-kg cast iron bell once operated inside the museum’s clock tower. The bell later sat in storage for years before the museum collaborated with the Municipal Heritage Committee during the pandemic to proudly display the artifact on the museum’s front lawn.
Under a spot test, Hollingshead is confident that the recent incident was done with a paint marker.
“The first one looked more like an official tag, like someone who has graffitied or knows the graffiti culture,” he says. “The second one definitely just looked like an act of vandalism. Someone just came by and wrote something on it for no apparent purpose.”
Hollingshead told SooToday that when he arrived to work last Wednesday, he discovered summer students with the city were in the final stages of cleaning the bell from the first graffiti strike.
He says the museum was surprised that another party had stepped in unexpectedly to clean the artifact.
“They were using a pressure washer and an industrial graffiti removal solvent,” he says. “We were thankful that they had cleaned it but were quite surprised because we were looking at proper conservation and remediation efforts to remove the graffiti without causing further damage to the patina.”
“I would hope perhaps this time we could have a more thorough conversation about who will clean it. My staff is fully trained and has the certifications for it.”
Hollingshead says the museum remains adamant that the bell will stay on the front lawn, and they’re currently looking into surveillance and security options.
“It really does show the history of the building well for people who don’t come inside or if we’re closed,” he says. “It also brings some relevancy to the building itself.”
“At this point, it’s best we pursue any opportunity to put surveillance in that area and ensure we’re able to manage and secure the bell the best way possible. We are a non-profit charitable organization, so it does eat into our budget a bit to put security in, but I know this is something people across the city are facing.”