Museum's future in doubt as it celebrates moon anniversary

WAPAKONETA — Hundreds of people descended upon the grounds of the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum on Monday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Some say they came just in case the museum is forced to close.

A week of festivities have marked Wapakoneta’s observance of the milestone, but state funding cuts to the Ohio Historical Society have put the museum’s future up in the air.

“I definitely wanted the girls to see it just in case it closes. We’ve heard talk it might close,” Joe Mosher, of Columbus, said with his two young daughters in tow. “I thought since we were at the air show in Dayton we’d make it an aviation weekend and come here.”

Rachel Barber, administrator of the Auglaize County Historical Society and a member of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum Association, said the local group is still working to put together a plan to keep the museum open.

Turnout for the celebrations are a testament to why the museum matters, Barber said.

“I think it validates that this is a very important site. They are coming from all over the country,” Barber said. “This is history people can connect to.”

Becky Macwhinney, site manager at the museum, said thousands of people visited the museum during the weekend. She said more than 2,500 people came through the museum through Sunday, which is as many as two to three times as many people who normally visit during Wapakoneta’s annual Summer Moon Festival.

“It’s great to know it’s still alive and in the hearts of everyone 40 years later,” Macwhinney said. “They want to be a part of it.”

Residents from Auglaize County took advantage of a free admission special on Monday. It brought Tarry and Karin Whetstone to the museum from their home a few miles outside town.

“It’s very sad that they are even talking about it closing,” Karin Whetstone said. “It means a lot to Americans they need to be able to come here. It would be a shame to close this museum.”