Indiana set to close Ernie Pyle historic site

Ernie Pyle's boyhood home in Dana, Indiana has struggled to attract visitors, and the state is poised to officially close the site.


Indiana set to close Ernie Pyle historic site
By Bill Ruthhart - The Indianapolis Star
Posted : Tuesday May 18, 2010 15:42:19 EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — State officials Tuesday are expected to take the final step in permanently closing the Ernie Pyle State Historic Site.

Pyle’s boyhood home, located in the small town of Dana, Ind., about 25 miles north of Terre Haute, has been a state historic site since 1976 and since 1995 has included a visitor center full of historic exhibits from his life as a famed World War II correspondent.

Department of Natural Resources officials decided Jan. 1 to close the site, citing a savings of $50,000 in maintenance costs a year. The cut was part of the department’s efforts to meet spending reductions as the state faces slumping revenue.

Friends of Ernie Pyle, a group that has supported the site, has fought since January to appeal the decision.

Phil Hess, president of that group, said earlier this month he and others had met with the governor’s top aides, trying to persuade the administration to reconsider its decision.



unhappycamper comment: I remember my uncles telling me when I was a young lad that Ernie Pyle was a GI's GI.

Like many things military, people sink to the bottom of the to do list. Preserving the Ernie Pyle historic site is just another causality of the current wars, occupations, or whatever you wish to call them.

and younger folks are not taught much about history, so I'm not surprised that they plan to close it.. Maybe a state historical museum will take the things.. People like buying homes with history, so maybe selling the house is the better way to preserve it..

In budget crisis times, smaller historical sites often get the axe.. Money paid to maintain it and to pay the people running it, can be used elsewhere..

Someone will gladly buy that nice looking place, and probably enjoy living in a historic home..and save the state the money to maintain an out of the way place with little interest..

The nearest state attraction, Turkey Run State Park, is nearly an hour's drive away, and there is nothing else of note nearby. I'm hoping someone steps up and buys the house to keep it preserved. The Eugene Debs house in Terre Haute is run that way.