Each object differs in how long the treatment takes, depending on how much work is needed.

A portable organ used by Charles Bull, a St. Charles man who served overseas in the YMCA during World War I, had to be X-rayed so Paterakis could understand why the instrument had damage. She found that a refurbishment in the 1950s was contributing to the decline. Bull’s organ, which he played for troops on the front lines and on the boat ride back from France, will be on display in a temporary World War I exhibit when the museum reopens around November 2018.

While some museums might use restoration methods to try to make an artifact look exactly as it did when it was made, that process comes with a caveat.

“Restoration is an interpretation,” Paterakis said. “We’re not 100 percent sure what some of these things used to look like. We’re always interpreting and adding our own opinions. That’s why we try to avoid too much intervention.”