Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - After a malfunctioning fire suppression system caused serious water damage to the Explore & More Children's Museum in Downtown Buffalo, one local business is putting together a fundraising drive selling special shirts.
Rob Grabowski of Buff-A-Logo says he was approached by a friend of his brother-in-law to create a shirt for a special fundraiser after the museum sustained damage. "We linked up with Explore & More, just to come up with a cool design that we can offer to everyone in Buffalo essentially and beyond really, to try and help raise money just for them to use because they're self funded," says Grabowski. He says Explore & More gave parameters he and wanted something to symbolize the treehouse so they gave him their Treehouse graphic that they use. "We kind of just worked together, came up with something unifying symbolizes growth and regrowth as the tree house will be something that needs to be rebuilt," adds Grabowski.
Chris Ryndak with Explore & More says he's still assessing the damage. "With water damage, you're never quite sure. But we do have insurance and everyone else looking into it, and we're still assessing the full extent, monetarily," says Ryndak.
Ryndak says the base of the floor was wet from the fire suppression system going off. "We've had crews in here over the last few weeks really disassembling a lot of the turf and the matting underneath got pretty damaged. It seeped into some of our office space on the fourth floor as well," says Ryndak.
Ryndak is hopeful the treehouse will be open by the fall. "We're working with Buffalo Treehouse, who designed and constructed the original design, and we are hopeful for the fall that we'll be reopening with, hopefully, some new twists, as well as we always try to keep things fresh," says Ryndak.
Neither Ryndak nor Grabowski would estimate how much could be raised by this sale.
Related
