Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Baltimore could close

[Zephie]

(Reuters) - Of all the cities that claim a connection to the troubled author Edgar Allan Poe, Baltimore likes to think its case is strongest.

But the city that named its NFL team after his poem "The Raven" may soon lose a key physical connection to Poe. The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, where the writer lived for four years in the early 1800s, is in danger of closing next year, due to budget cutbacks by the city.

<snip>

Cash-strapped Baltimore stopped funding the museum's $85,000 budget two years ago. It now operates on funds raised privately over recent years.

<snip>

About 5,000 visitors per year from as far away as China travel to the museum to simply stand in the same quarters that once housed Poe. The museum features his tiny attic bedroom with only enough room for a bed, a chair and a wash table. It is stocked with general Poe memorabilia, like portraits and his original obituary.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/12/us-poe-baltimore-idUSTRE78B46B20110912

[Cool Logic]

1. $85,000/yr / 5000 visitors/yr = $17.00/visitor

Problem solved.

[FSogol]

4. Why? A $5 per person fee is fine, but why not let the city and/or state help?

For the citizens of Baltimore, that comes to 14 cents per year.
For the citizens of Maryland, that comes to less than 1-1/2 cent per year.

This is a prime example of why small-minded Republicans are dangerous for our country. They claim to love America, but hate everything that makes it special.

[Cool Logic]

7. "This is a prime example of why small-minded Republicans are dangerous for our country."

I don't have much use for Rs, but Baltimore is run by Ds...

[FSogol]

11. I wasn't commenting on Balt. politics, I was commenting on your RW notion that only the users

of parks and historical sites should pay for them. That is our shared history. The costs should be shared.

[Cool Logic]

16. Perhaps there were higher priorities...

You know...things like providing health care for impoverished children.

In my view, it is small-minded to place the wants of yuppies ahead of the needs of poor children.

[Kingofalldems]

15. Ron Paul would agree with you

So would Gov. Perry.

[Cool Logic]

17. As should all Edgar Allen Poe devotees...

[xchrom]

2. Well that's sad. Nt

[Odin2005]

3. This is obscene. Poe is a national treasure!

[Kingofalldems]

5. Poe and Twain--America's best

Is ther a Twain museum I wonder?

[Zephie]

6. Yes, there is a Twain Museum in Hartford Conn.

Incidentally it just received a $65000 grant. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9PN1B5O0.htm

[FarCenter]

8. Nevermore

[NNN0LHI]

He tried the science fiction. But people wanted blood

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/edgar-allan-poe-proper-burial-160-years/story?id=8799941

"He tried the science fiction. But people wanted blood, they wanted horror, they wanted premature burial. They wanted superstition," says the curator, who has run the museum for the past 30 years. "They wanted murder. And he gave it to them right between the eyes."

[ensho]

9. when I was a kid I found a box of books in the attic

among them was Poe

I'm so glad I read them.

hope his Museum stays open

[lynne]

10. Grant money? Fundraisers? A benefactor? There's more than one way to -

- find additional funds. More and more of these smaller museums and historical sites will be forced to rethink how they do things as money from cities and counties disappears in this economy.

I checked and can't find a working website for the house, which speaks volumes right there. There is a Poe Society in Baltimore that states there is a "small" admission fee. They also say they don't have the budget to sustain the house and actually were responsible for it at one time, turning it over to the City of Baltimore in 1977.

They will need to think outside their normal box or the doors will close. Just depends on how bad they want to keep it.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

12. Isn't John Cusack starring in an upcoming Poe biopic?

I imagine $85K is chump change to him.

[JitterbugPerfume]

13. so sad

Poe is a National Treasure

[Fumesucker]

14. I wonder how much subsidy the local basketball, football and baseball teams get from the city?

:shrug: