The National Military Heritage Museum plans to officially close its doors in St. Joseph only weeks after reopening.

The Board of Directors made the announcement in a news release Wednesday.  It said the closure is for the foreseeable future due to museum insurance costs and attendance.  The board plans to close the museum located at 701 Messanie St. effective May 1.

CLICK HERE to read the release in full.

It said the insurance cost is increasing by almost $3,000.  Over 3/4 of it is for coverage on the liability of the property and not the actual artifacts.

Also, it said attendance in the last eight weeks since reopening hasn’t been sufficient to keep up with utilities, maintenance and day-to-day operations.

“Our opening month, we had 135 visitors including our grand re-opening, netting $600 in Admissions and $180 in donations. April has been substantially less, as of April 27th, we have had 23 visitors. 8 of the 14 days of operation so far for the month have had zero attendance,” the release said.

The board still plans to open an exhibit at the East Hills Mall to showcase the museum.  Also, the board is talking about plans to make the Museum exhibits mobile.