Below is the article the link in my previous post referred to, just in case the article is removed...
Offers pour in to help Cowtown
BY BECCY TANNER
The Wichita Eagle
Cowboy singer Michael Martin Murphey, best known for his 1975 hit "Wildfire," has offered to put on a benefit Christmas concert to help save Old Cowtown Museum.
Murphey originally offered in June to host a concert and special dinner for Cowtown over the Labor Day weekend. But Cowtown officials never accepted the offer because they weren't sure they could stay open that long.
Murphey is now offering to do a benefit Christmas Cowboy Ball. His is one of at least seven efforts that are under way to save Cowtown.
True West magazine and several national associations with history-related themes are among the organizations that have launched campaigns to keep the living history museum open.
John D'Angelo, the interim director of Cowtown, said it would take at least $650,000 to keep Cowtown open and its staff employed.
He said Wednesday that he was unaware Murphey had made the offer in June.
"Nobody has spoken to me about it," he said.
It's up to Cowtown's board to decide what the museum's future will be when members meet Monday, he said.
Murphey said Wednesday that he brought in marketing experts in June who offered to do a free marketing plan for the living history museum complete with a cowboy theme song.
He said he is enamored with Wichita's history.
"We are talking about a place where Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson walked the streets.... I get goosebumps walking down the streets and among the buildings," he said. "Admittedly, I'm a history buff, but I'm not the only one. More than a million people buy my cowboy song albums."
In addition to Murphey's offer, other last-minute campaigns include:
• The executive editor of True West magazine, the leading Western history magazine, is encouraging his 192,000 readers to send donations. The plea is in the issue that's expected to hit the streets next week. "We love Cowtown," said Bob Boze Bell "We think it is a national treasure.... Wichita is the cradle of the cowboy myth. We feel the cowboy is our nation's proudest icon, and Wichita is central to that."
• The organizations supporting the National Day of the Cowboy, the Kansas Cowtown Coalition, and other national horse, rodeo and saddle clubs are sending out appeals to their memberships to help save Cowtown.
• Jim Gray, owner of Drovers Mercantile, an Old West store in Ellsworth, and publisher of the Kansas Cowboy newspaper, said Wednesday that he was sending an e-mail to thousands of his subscribers asking for support. "It's all about whether we care about our heritage. That's the battle that's going on," Gray said. "Wichita is on a stage and how they perform will be criticized by people all over the country."
• Debbie and Randy Edens, who volunteer at Cowtown, are asking Kansans to send e-mails supporting Cowtown to the Wichita City Council and Sedgwick County Commission.
• Other Cowtown volunteers are encouraging local students to save their nickels and dimes, and parents and grandparents to donate what they can in a grassroots campaign.
• Ed LeRoy, manager of special events at the museum, is encouraging Sedgwick County residents to "honk if you love Cowtown." He wants motorists to drive up and down McLean Boulevard between Seneca and Meridian -- across the Arkansas River from Cowtown -- and show their support by honking during the board meeting at the museum Monday.
"I think our city and county representatives need to know the broad, widespread support to keep Old Cowtown open," LeRoy said.
The museum is between $130,000 and $180,000 in debt. The board must choose from three options Monday:
• Close the museum permanently. The city would acquire the land and buildings. All collections and corporate assets would be sold. The staff would be terminated.
• Close the museum temporarily, for 12 to 18 months, keeping only three to four employees.
• Find $650,000 from local donors to keep the museum open.
Even if the money was raised to keep the museum open, D'Angelo said, it would not be enough to fix up the property. The historic structures and boardwalks badly need attention.
"What you've done is kept the staff and family together but you don't have any place to live," he said.
Still, there is an interest in saving Cowtown and seeing it improve.
Murphey envisions a new Cowtown with an opera house that's air-conditioned and large enough to house special western-heritage-themed events.
His vision includes a high-end steak and barbecue restaurant, and shops to attract visitors.
"Cowtown could be and should be the 'Williamsburg of the American West,' " Murphey said, referring to the popular colonial-era living history attraction in Virginia.
"It absolutely astounds me that leaders in the Wichita area do not realize what a gem Cowtown is and could be. I am stumped. It's got that potential. Nobody would ever dream of letting Williamsburg be closed for 18 months."
HOW TO HELP
Cowtown volunteers are urging anyone who wants to make a financial contribution to send it to:
Old Cowtown Museum
1865 Museum Blvd.
Wichita, KS 67203
HOW TO ATTEND
Cowtown's board of directors will discuss the museum's future at a meeting Monday that's open to the public. It begins at 5 p.m. in the museum's visitor center.
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Reach Beccy Tanner at 316-268-6336 or btanner@wichitaeagle.com.
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