Although most of The Ringling campus—including the Museum of Art, Circus Museum, Visitor Pavilion, Historic Asolo Theater and education building—made it through Hurricane Helene unscathed, Ca' d'Zan, the 1926 Italianate mansion built for John and Mable Ringling on Sarasota Bay, sustained significant damage.

Helene's storm surge, which was up to six feet in the Ringling Museum area, caused two large, untethered boats to crash into the property, knocking out bollards along the seawall of the David F. Bolger Promenade. One of the boats damaged the terra cotta balustrade and the edge of the mansion's marble-tiled terrace before becoming lodged onshore next to the boat dock (also tiled in marble). The second boat battered the boat dock, and possibly the mansion's central staircase, before sinking. Ringling staff is currently working to remove the boats. 

The damage from the boats, combined with the storm's surge, caused many of the mansion's marble tiles on the boat dock and central staircase to lift, break or become displaced, and the dock's concrete substructure also suffered minor damage. 

Because the boat dock has sustained lesser—but similar—damage in previous storms, The Ringling had implemented a mockup mitigation method to test the use of a system to better secure the marble to the boat dock and lessen storm surge impact on the structure. However, the repeated impacts of the boat during Hurricane Helene exceeded the strength of this system.  

Helene's storm surge also flooded Ca' d'Zan's basement, which contains much of the home's mechanical equipment, including HVAC. Because of that, all of those systems have stopped working, and a special outdoor HVAC unit has been brought in to help cool and dehumidify the mansion and its collections. The other floors of the mansion did not take in water. 

“This is probably the worst impact from a storm that we’ve had at least in my time,” Steven High, The Ringling's executive director since 2011, told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune this week.

Because of the damage, Ca'' d'Zan will be closed for the foreseeable future. Ringling staff expects to offer exterior tours of the property in the coming weeks, but interior tours are currently on hold. All other scheduled events are continuing as normal, unless otherwise noted on the museum's website.

For more information, visit ringling.org