Bob Feller Museum

[z28jd]

Sounds like the museum is in financial trouble without Feller around anymore. Too bad

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/art...nclick_check=1

Looking at their site, I don't see them selling anything, but they do mention a gift shop under membership details(which was hard to find). I would think an online gift shop would help sales and keep the place afloat

http://www.bobfellermuseum.org/

[HOFautosChris]

Terrible to see things like this happen. A important part of history will be lost if this museum closes its doors.

[bnorth]

The same thing happened to the Ted Williams Museum. I think it is quite common once the played passes away.

[larrie804]

I enjoyed visiting this little museum four years ago.. Although its main focus is, quite naturally, the "Heater from Van Meter", there are a number of items which have been given to the museum by other members of the Hall of Fame.

[abothebear]

There are a lot of significant Iowa connections to baseball. It wonder if expanding the Bob Feller museum to include a Iowa baseball hall of fame would be a decent recovery strategy. Anson, Clarke, Faber, Bancroft, Vance, Stone, etc. Plus Iowa has a fairly rich town team history.

One problem for the Bob Feller museum is that there isn't anything else in Van Meter. It is a nice little town, but the only reason for going there is for the museum. If there was a little more town there then it might be more worth the trip.

I am afraid there probably isn't much hope for the museum as things stand.

[z28jd]

Someone else mentioned that is was out of the way too. Saw it on the facebook page.

I think if they had an online gift shop on their page, they could drum up some business, enough to keep them in business possibly. Would be nice if the Indians or a current player could do something to keep it open. I can't imagine the bills being so high that it's impossible to break even with a little bit of outside help and some extra online sales.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by bnorth

The same thing happened to the Ted Williams Museum. I think it is quite common once the played passes away.

That was right around the corner from my father in law's house. My first trip down there(this was quite a while ago), I was hoping to visit, BUT that was unfortunately right after they moved it to Tropicana Field. I was disappointed as hell. After all these years, I still haven't made it out to St Pete, but hopefully, I'll catch a game next I'm down there..

[Jayworld]

This is sad news. We went to the museum in late July of 2010 as part of a traveling baseball vacation, which included seeing games at Kansas City and Des Moines (Cubs minor league team).

The museum is about a 25 minute drive due west of Des Moines. The building is fairly small, with a main hallway as you walk in (and the gift shop/register on the left, and two rooms to the right of the hall and one to the left. Each room has glassed-in cases featuring different memorabilia of Feller's career. One case features items from his service in the navy, etc. When we were there, the museum also had a full stadium seat from League Park and also from Municipal Stadium, as well as a model of League Park. We spent about 45 minutes there, although one could take about 10 minutes to see everything if one did not read all the captions and information. At they time, they had plenty of signed baseballs from various players (you can still see this on the website shopping link), as well as a small supply of signed player bats (not game used) and signed jerseys of several players (most of the jerseys Mitchell and Ness branded). The staff was elderly but quite nice; I ended up purchasing a Feller signed HOF bat, ball, signed Feller black book, and a signed Feller seat slat from Municipal that featured (at that time) the other three living members of the 1948 Indians championship team.

I noticed that after Feller died towards the end of 2010, all his signed memorabilia jumped in price on the museum site to at least double. At the time of my visit, the lady in charge told us that Feller would come into the museum 4-5 times a year and sign a lot of material including items sent to the museum through the mail, etc. I'm sure that supply has dwindled.

If you have the chance to go when the museum opens again in April, do go for a visit. Very nice place, but the article is right, that's about all there is to see in Van Meter.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Jayworld

This is sad news. We went to the museum in late July of 2010 as part of a traveling baseball vacation, which included seeing games at Kansas City and Des Moines (Cubs minor league team).

The museum is about a 25 minute drive due west of Des Moines. The building is fairly small, with a main hallway as you walk in (and the gift shop/register on the left, and two rooms to the right of the hall and one to the left. Each room has glassed-in cases featuring different momentous of Feller's career. One case features items from his service in the navy, etc. When we were there, the museum also had a full stadium seat from League Park and also from Municipal Stadium, as well as a model of League Park. We spent about 45 minutes there, although one could take about 10 minutes to see everything if one did not read all the captions and information. At they time, they had plenty of signed baseballs from various players (you can still see this on the website shopping link), as well as a small supply of signed player bats (not game used) and signed jerseys of several players (most of the jerseys Mitchell and Ness branded). The staff was elderly but quite nice; I ended up purchasing a Feller signed HOF bat, ball, signed Feller black book, and a signed Feller seat slat from Municipal that featured (at that time) the other three living members of the 1948 Indians championship team.

I noticed that after Feller died towards the end of 2010, all his signed memorabilia jumped in price on the museum site to at least double. At the time of my visit, the lady in charge told us that Feller would come into the museum 4-5 times a year and sign a lot of material including items sent to the museum through the mail, etc. I'm sure that supply has dwindled.

If you have the chance to go when the museum opens again in April, do go for a visit. Very nice place, but the article is right, that's about all there is to see in Van Meter.

Thank you for sharing you story. When I go see Alice Cooper/Motley Crue in Des Moines in July I will have to stop and check it out. I know what you mean by you could see everything in 10 minutes. The Field of Dreams in Dyersville(2 minutes) and the Negro League Museum in KC are the same way.