Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center gets a new roof

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A local museum got a new look Friday after a local business heard that they needed a new roof.

The Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center had been using a tarp as their roof for several months when a man named Harold Porterfield took notice while driving by.

He pulled into the museum, asked about the roof, and then put in a phone call to RPI Homes and Roofing. Within weeks, contractors were out at the museum taking measurements and preparing to install a roof, completely free of charge.

It’s the kind of thing that the President of RPI says is a big part of their mission.

”We’re always looking for initiatives like this, because part of our mission statement is to positively influence our employees, our vendors, our customers, and our community so we saw this as an opportunity to benefit the community,” said John Reynolds, the president and CEO of RPI Homes and Roofing.

“It means everything because we have very historic artifacts in our building and we’ve been worried about the weather. We want them to know we appreciate everything they’ve done by going around and getting all these donated materials and doing all this work,” said Connie Shreve, the tollkeeper at the Savannah Ogeechee Canal Museum and Nature Center.

The roof shingles were donated by one of RPI’s suppliers and RPI themselves donated the labor.

They installed the roof Friday which they say should be good for about 20 years.

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