BATH — Strong winds last week tore chunks of copper sheathing off the roof of the Maine Maritime Museum.

Officials said repairs could take at least six weeks.

“We lost two big sections of the copper sheathing … but the sub-roof stayed intact,” Amy Lent, the museum’s executive director, said on Friday, Feb. 1, the day after the damage occurred.

She added that roofers were quickly able to cover the area with tarps, “so we don’t have to worry about water damage.”

While there was minimal leaking before the tarps were in place, there was no significant damage to anything in the museum, and all the collections were secured, Lent said. The roof damage occurred over the administrative office area.

Wind gusts in the area were up to 63 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Although the Washington Street museum was closed Thursday so that the roof could be addressed, it opened for business as usual on Friday.

Lent said she did not know the monetary value of the damage, and had not yet had a chance to measure how much sheathing had been torn off. But she said “it’s significant; it’s the length of the front of the building.”

“It’s a problem … to resolve, but … no tragedy, no major disaster,” Lent said. “Just something that we have to fix now.”

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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