Flood damage forces closure of exhibit at Explore & More

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Flood damage on two different floors of the Explore & More Children’s Museum forced the indefinite closure of an exhibit, museum officials said.

The “Community Treehouse” exhibit, located on the third and fourth floors of the building, flooded on Monday. It is currently unclear what caused the flooding.

Field trips to the museum that were scheduled for Tuesday were canceled, and museum officials will be assessing the damage.

Crews are working to clean up the flood damage.

The museum will be open from May 11 to 12 and May 15 to 19 with their “Pay What You Wish!” admission, which gives people the option to pay $7, $10 or $13 for admission. The treehouse exhibit will still remain closed until further notice.

“There’s just a tremendous amount of water as if there was a fire,” Michelle Urbanczyk, the president and CEO of Explore & More, said. “It triggered the fire suppression system, so that caused a whole bunch of water.”

Urbanczyk said it will take months to rebuild the museum.

The museum, which first opened in Canalside in 2019, closed for just over a month last fall for renovations and maintenance, re-opening last October.

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here .