About 90 percent of the objects in the Pompey Museum were saved, although fire ravaged the building earlier this month, officials confirmed yesterday.  Initially, they feared that most of the historic artifacts had been lost in the blaze, which ripped through a portion of Bay Street in the early morning hours of December 3.  "Over the years, the Pompey Museum has amassed a significant collection of rare books on the subject of slavery and related topics," said a statement from the National Museum of The Bahamas (NMB) and the Antiquities, Monuments and Museum Corporation (AMMC).

"Its object collection includes slave shackles of different kinds, a whip, cloth dolls, coins and West African trading beads of note.  "There was also a mural depicting Parliament Square and Bay Street during the 1850s.  The mural was created during the 1960s to adorn the walls of the newly-opened branch of City Bank located on the ground floor of the Adderley Building."  The statement said the mural was destroyed by fire along with all of the information panels and historic documents.

"The wooden artifacts, including a slave bed and musket were badly charred, and they along with other wooden pieces will need conservation," the statement said.  "On display were two cloth dolls.  Although damaged one survived the fire."  The statement said the Department of Archives is assisting with cleaning of the book collection.  Some of them are wet and others are covered with soot and smelled of smoke, it added.  "The metal objects including slave shackles, a double transportation slave collar, and crab style runaway collar are being cleaned and have minimal damage.

"Over all, 90 percent of the objects were saved even though a small percentage of them were damaged and all of the books in the special collection were saved even though some of them have some water damage."  The AMMC noted that in the 2001 Bay Street fire, 97 percent of all of the collections on display and stored were saved.  The cause of the most recent fire still remains a mystery and investigations are ongoing.  Police were questioning a man about the fire a week after it happened, but he has since been released.

With an understanding of what was lost and saved, the corporation said, in the very near future it plans to provide an opportunity for public involvement through a 'Restore Pompey Museum Campaign'.

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