North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort closed for remainder of year due to construction

BEAUFORT, N.C. (WITN) - A museum in the East is closed due to construction until 2025.

Construction at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort is to update its HVAC system.

The museum closed due to construction last Friday, November 15th.

During this time, the Port of Call Museum store will remain open through December 8th, and the Harvey W. Smith watercraft center will be open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Virtual programs, events at the watercraft center and curator-led outreach and field programs will remain available to the general public, schools and groups.

Director Maria Vann says the update is needed to preserve the museum’s artifacts and goods.

“It’s essential for any museum not only to keep visitors comfortable, especially in the summers here in North Carolina, but also for our collections. Our collections are the core of what we do as museum professionals. We have to safeguard those treasures of the heritage and Maritime heritage of that region, and in order to really take care of them as we should, we really need to have great temperature and humidity control, and this is going to put us in that place,” Vann told WITN.

Vann says staff worked endlessly to carefully move the museum’s artifacts into a safe place to kick start the new HVAC project.

A reopening date has not yet been finalized.

Vann encourages visitors to stay updated by checking out their website and social media platforms.