Beatty nonprofit burglarized during holiday weekend

Goldwell Open Air Museum near Rhyolite ghost town was the victim of burglary and theft over the Labor Day weekend.

The Red Barn Art Center was broken into, and a number of items were stolen, including, among other things, tools, paint, a step-ladder, and a fan. The tools and paint were in the building because of maintenance work that was underway.

The thief or thieves gained entry by ripping off a sheet of plywood covering an unused door and then kicking in the door, shattering it.

Rather than leave the same way they entered, they used a back door, destroying the dead bolt they could not open from the inside.

The outside donation box, a red metal lock box, was also ripped off the wall of the museum’s visitors center and stolen.

Following this incident, the museum’s officers are looking into installing video surveillance, in hopes that it will be a deterrent, or at least will make it more possible to catch perpetrators.

Richard Stephens is a freelance reporter living in Beatty. He is also president of the board of directors of Goldwell Open Air Museum.