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Soldiers and Sailors Monument closed due to flooding

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sometimes you make plans and sometimes Mother Nature washes your plans away.

Visitors from Indiana to Arizona walked up the Sailors’and Soldiers’ Monument steps on Monument Circle Thursday only to find a locked door.

The staff closed the monument after they found two inches of rainwater inside the civil war museum, just below the main monument entrance.

Staff members spent Thursday moving artifacts in the museum away from the water, including Col. Eli Lilly’s coat and weapon.

The good news? No artifacts are damaged.

The bad news?

“I was just going to the monument to show my sisters, because she’s on vacation from out of town, but we can’t get in,” Candy Ulrey said.

“I was a little disappointed. I’m from Arizona and wanted to see the monument. It’s beautiful on the outside. I want to see the inside,” Mary Fogg said.

Indiana War Memorials Executive Director J. Stewart Goodwin said leaking isn’t new to the museum but the staff found new leaks Thursday morning after opening for the first time since Sunday.

He said they’re fixing the leaks–at least temporarily–and they plan to reopen Friday morning.  He also alerted the local media Thursday morning.

“The whole purpose of this was not to cry wolf wolf, but to make sure people didn’t make a trip down when the museum was going to be closed today,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said his staff will now check for leaks even on days when the monument is closed to make sure they’re not flooding.

He said some areas of the museum might be blocked off Friday if there is still some water.

The 113-year-old monument underwent a nine-month renovation in 2014-2015.

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