By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer 

“History is the interpretation of the significance that the past has for us.”

- Johan Huizinga

NAPLES — The artifacts stored inside the Naples Museum are at the mercy of the weather.

Yes, the items are indoors. But, the humidity and lack of heat are causing damage to the relics, the photographs and the paperwork that hold a key to Naples’ past.     

Brenda Leo, the director of the Naples Visitors Center, whose office is in the same building as the museum, made a pitch to the Naples Board of Selectmen to put heat pumps in the upcoming budget for 2022. 

“You want us to be in there and watch all the artifacts. The glue is drying out. Things are falling apart,” Leo said. “We have all kinds of invaluable papers and information that we haven’t got a chance to get into. Those papers are rolling up at the corners.” 

“Right now, it is so cold it creates moisture. Then, when it gets warm, things start to mold,” she said. 

When the museum is closed to the public, sometime after Labor Day, the heat is turned down to 50 degrees to conserve electricity.

Heat pumps are a very feasible option, Leo said.

“The heat pumps are good. They use them in museums all across the country. They can go into dry mode or add moisture if needed,” she said. 

An expert in the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Field was not available to answer questions that evening. It was a representative from Dave’s World and he could not make it to Monday’s meeting.  

The selectmen showed interest in gathering more information about the heat pumps.

The board meets again Jan. 10. The chairman asked her to invite someone from Dave’s World to that meeting. The vice-chair asked Leo to get more than one cost estimate.

Selectman Ted Shane spoke. 

“I think you are in the right track,” he said.

He installed heat pumps in his home; and the units improved the air quality so much that he sleeps better, Shane said. 

Caleb Humphrey, who was in the audience, attested to the cost savings from switching to heat pumps.

“I put a heat pump in my house a few years ago. The heat cost is down 60 percent,” he said. [The town] “could be saving a few thousand dollars a year.”

Naples Town Manager John Hawley said, “It has to be budgeted first. That’s the reason she (Leo) is asking now is so that we can budget it for next year.”