The vault at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum greets you with an immediate sense of cool. Only those with the best backstage pass — mostly politicians and rock stars — get to saunter through the nondescript double doors. But there’s an actual chill too, as the area has its own air-conditioning system set at a comfortable 68 degrees with 50 percent relative humidity to preserve items. With its white walls and rows of gray cabinets, the 2,000-square-foot vault appears sterile, but a closer look at item tags and you begin to see stars: a mic stand with Steven Tyler’s signature scarves casually nudged in the corner, a guitar case labeled “Eric Church” laid across the table, a shirt leisurely worn by Elvis backstage hung on a silver rack. This is where legacies live. With 30,000 items in the collection and only 2,000 rotating on display, the Rock Hall uses the vault as the gateway for cataloging items, checking if they need quarantined if they are infested with bugs or off-gassing occurs, looking for damage caused in transit and sending it to ICA Art Conservation for repairs or to clean up quarantined items. But rips, holes and spots — even the bloodstains on Sid Vicious’ T-shirt — remain to ensure an artifact’s character and help curators do research later when writing up information for exhibits. “We never clean those, because it’s part of the story,” says Jun Francisco, director of collections management. So even though Patti Smith’s lace-up boots are so worn that the sole is attached with a gnarled strip of duct tape, they stay unaltered. “With that kind of condition it will deteriorate, but our goal is to slow it down,” Francisco says. Out on the floor, staffers regularly brush off the uncased items to avoid dust, while UV glass on the display cases and low lighting reduce light exposure. Preserving iconic pieces for years to come is a balancing act between making sure guests can see an exhibit and monitoring light levels daily. “We try to mitigate it by rotating the objects,” Francisco says. 1100 E. Ninth St., Cleveland, 216-781-7625, rockhall.com
