Local museum looks for new home after being forced to relocate

An Indianapolis museum needs a new home after a pipe burst in December, causing significant damage.

Rhythm! Discovery Center, an interactive drum and percussion museum, is located at 110 W. Washington St. in downtown Indianapolis.  It also houses offices for the Percussive Arts Society.  

Executive director Joshua Simonds said there was no damage to any exhibits or the extensive drum and percussion collection, but the flooding prompted a decision to re-evaluate the museum’s needs.   

“You have to rethink, do I want to put something like that back together in a basement where we had so many issues with water before so in some ways, it's definitely an opportunity,” Simonds said. “It's unfortunate. I think the worst part about it is that it happened so suddenly. And there's no way to, for the public say goodbye to this location. It was just pretty much you're done. You know, and that's been I think the hardest part for the staff and the community is just, you just close and there's nothing else to do until, you know, we reopen somewhere.”

There is no timetable for the relocation of the museum.

“We are moving all our collections to an offsite facility so they'll be stored properly,” SImonds said. “The staff has some new office space, downtown Indianapolis, and we will start the process of what's the next best place.”

Simonds said he would like the community’s input on a new museum.

“I think that there are some aspects of the museum that for sure we're going to do but we want to make sure that when we build this new space, that it really is for our community, you know, what's lacking here, what can we help bring in and bridge the gap.”

The public can still view the collection online at rhythmdiscoverycenter.org.

Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Taylor Bennett at tbennett@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @TaylorB2213.