The Executive Director for Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach says they have been able to complete some roof repairs just in time.

Gary Dyck says they had a leaky roof that was resulting in water dripping through the ceiling in parts of their building, including the gallery and artifact storage area. But, thanks to a fundraising banquet in May, Dyck says they raised enough money to get most of those repairs completed.

(Buckets placed throughout the village centre to collect water dripping from the ceiling.)The work was done in June and July. With consistent rain over the last couple of weeks, Dyck says if the work had not been completed, there would definitely be rain dripping through the roof these days, putting their 16,000 artifacts in danger. He notes though no artifacts were ever damaged by the leaky roof, there were certainly some close calls. But, he says there was some structural damage to the building.

According to Dyck, about three quarters of the work is now complete. He notes the remaining roof repairs are overtop the area just outside the collections department. Dyck says any remaining articles in danger of being dripped on are not heritage items.

"But yes we want to get that fixed as soon as possible because of the structural damage that can take its toll," he says. "Sometimes these leaks they go in one place and they can go along the wall and they can find their way to another part of the building."

Dyck is hopeful they will have the money in place to complete the work in the next month or two. He notes the entire project will cost over $100,000. Dyck says it will probably cost a little more than expected because in doing repairs they have noticed more damage than previously thought.