Corning Glass Works, now Corning Incorporated, became the single greatest benefactor to rebuilding Corning after the disaster. Just days after the flood, Amory Houghton, Jr, the chairman of the Glass Works, announced that despite suffering $20 million in damage ($138.3 million in 2022), the Glass Works would not only stay in Corning and help rebuild the city, but would offer interest free loans to current and retired Glass Works employees to help them rebuild their homes. This had an unparalleled impact on the local recovery effort.
Experts from around the world assisted staff and volunteers, sometimes developing and implementing wholly new conservation and restoration techniques. While cleaning and restoring all the damaged material, particularly the books, would take four years to finish, the museum itself boldly reopened in just 6 weeks, on August 1, 1972.