NATCHEZ &8212; The roof leaks and the wallpaper is peeling at the Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture museum, and chairman of the board the Rev. LeRoy White is looking to get city money to fix it.

The city owns the building, and NAPAC is leasing it from the city. Over the past few months, the roof has leaked, peeling wallpaper and damaging artifacts.

&8220;We&8217;ve got a lot of work to do,&8221; White said Monday. &8220;The rain is deteriorating things, and we&8217;re trying to protect the artifacts and things inside.&8221;

The non-profit organization first transformed the old post office into a museum several years ago.

The organization asked for less than $10,000 from this coming fiscal year&8217;s city budget, White said. This is the first time they have asked for city appropriations.

The exterior needs to be repaired before the inside can be fixed again, he said.

&8220;All the money we put into the interior the first time has gone down the drain,&8221; he said. &8220;We&8217;re hurting that way.&8221;

White said he would also like to hire full-time staff to run the museum. City money would help with staff hiring and applying for grants, he said.

Also, the lower floor of the building, which has potential, is not being used, White said.

The Natchez board of aldermen passed a budget Sept. 14 nearly identical to last year&8217;s budget. They said they planned on going though budget requests in detail at a later date.