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Effort Under Way To Save Fort Pitt Museum

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May 8, 2009 6:48 pm US/Eastern

Effort Under Way To Save Fort Pitt Museum

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The state recently spent millions renovating Point State Park which surrounds a real historical gem - The Fort Pitt Blockhouse.

But state budgets cuts are threatening to close the nearby Fort Pitt Museum by the end of June.

"Outrage! I mean what else can you say," Donn Neal, heading up the Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum, said.

Without this museum, interpreting the brick and mortar of the blockhouse, and telling the story of Pittsburgh's earliest roots cannot be told effectively.

Right now, thousands of visitors come here every year from everywhere for a hands-on history lesson.

"It's such an important part of Pittsburgh that everybody needs to be able to know what our past was like," says Tom Horwat of Cranberry who was visiting the museum.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission evaluated 23 sites.

Among the sites on the closure list: The Fort Pitt Museum, The Flagship Niagara Sailing Museum, The Conrad Weiser Homestead in Berks County, The Brandywine Battlefield in Delaware County and the Joseph Priestly House in Northumberland County.

"The report itself is flawed by having bad research, by having poor statistics, misleading statistics so naturally they reached the wrong conclusion," Neal said.

But State Senator Jim Ferlo remains upbeat.

"There's no way we should or will allow the closing of the Fort Pitt Museum," he said.

Ferlo, who is a member of the commission, is holding a public meeting May 14th in City Council Chambers.

"To basically rally around the flag. We need to get folks out in the Pittsburgh community to show their concern about the continued operation of the Fort Pitt Museum," he said.

Inside the museum, kids are practicing their freedom of speech and posting their concerns.

"I don't want them to close it because this is very interesting and I think it's good for people to learn about this," says Sean McKenzie, a student at the Christ Lutheran School in Forest Hills.

He and his classmates are already writing letters to lobby their legislators.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.