The Jimmy Stewart Museum Faces An Uncertain Future ---Nick mention

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The Jimmy Stewart Museum Faces An Uncertain Future


Fame can be fleeting and as we've seen with the closing of the Liberace museum in Nevada and the Roy Rogers museum in California, sometimes lack of interest can spell the end of the road for museums dedicated to a single person, no matter how legendary. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania has been struggling to stay afloat. According to the article, attendance is down, state funding is disappearing and grants are also hard to get. Although the museum has a fairly modest operating budget of $140,000 that number may get harder and harder to reach.

The museum, which has been open since 1995, is a treasure trove of Stewart memorabilia including costumes, scripts, his childhood bed and even the red leather booth from Chasen's Restaurant in Hollywood where the Stewart family used to dine every week. Even though people are still indulging in the Christmas tradition of watching Stewart's 1946 classic movie "It's a Wonderful Life," that hasn't translated to people visiting the museum.

Museum director Timothy Harley has been appealing for help from local foundations but could use a little divine intervention. The Stewart family donates $25,000 every year and gave the county a $500,000 endowment fund for various agencies and other famous friends of Stewart have helped including impressionist Rich Little, who funded a $20,000 museum canopy, and Nick Clooney, father of actor George, brother of singer Rosemary who provided the audio for a self-guided museum tour. Clooney and Little also co-host the museum's annual dinner. Recently we saw the planned Red Skelton museum get a $1 million gift, perhaps some holiday magic will find its way to the Stewart museum.

It must be difficult to keep something like that open year after year, after awhile everyone that knew you when you were alive has passed on themselves. Its always a pleasure when talking with my kids and their friends when they know who someone is from back in the day(my -life time) and whatever accomplishments they might be known for.