Higgins Armory Museum To Close At End Of Year
PHOTO/COURTESY
The Higgins Armory Museum in Worcester
The 82-year-old Higgins Armory Museum, citing financial challenges, will close at the end of this year and transfer its unique collection of arms and armor – much of it from the Medieval era – across town to the Worcester Art Museum.
Higgins, which draws an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 visitors a year and contains about 2,000 pieces of arms and armor, faced an "inescapable reality that excellent programs and strong attendance alone, without a significant endowment, cannot sustain (it) as an independent institution," James C. Donnelly Jr., a long-time trustee who has served as Higgins' president since 2009, said in a statement distributed by the museum.
"Higgins' biggest challenge is our lack of a deep endowment," Interim Director Suzanne Maas added in the statement. "But we're strong in virtually every other facet of museum operations."
The museum's original endowment was $17,000, "and yet it has managed to survive all these years thanks to the driving creativity" of its 28 full- and part-time employees, the statement said.
Higgins and the Worcester Art Museum are working together to ensure a smooth transition of its collection, the statement said. "Combining with the Worcester Art Museum will keep this tremendous asset for the community and preserve" the legacy of its founder, John Woodman Higgins, a Worcester industrialist in the early 20th century who built the collection.
The museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and, in 1972, was accredited by the American Association of Museums. Maas, in an interview with the Worcester Business Journal, said that unlike the other major collections of arms and armor in the United States, which are based in art museums, the Higgins stands alone. The size of the Higgins collection, she added, is second only to the estimated 12,000 pieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Matthias Waschek, the director of the Worcester Art Museum, said, "We know this collection holds a special place in the hearts of so many, and we're going to do everything we can to ensure those memories can endure and that new ones are created for future generations." Waschek said the addition of the Higgins collection "enriches our collection substantially."
According to its nonprofit tax filings, Higgins' annual revenue fell by more than half in 2009 to $620,000. It saw a steady recovery the following two years, with revenue climbing back up to $1.2 million in 2011. Workshops and admissions revenue also saw an uptick in 2011, and the museum trimmed expenses by cutting staff nearly 25 percent by 2011.
But its deficit has remained. After turning a small surplus in 2008, the armory lost more than $2.7 million between 2009 and 2011. Maas said the board reached a point in late 2010 where the "runway (was) not long enough to turn it around." One problem Higgins faced was the inability to raise more money through its endowment fund.
Mass said one of the reasons the museum wanted to announce the closing now was to prepare to find a buyer for the 100 Barber Ave. facility. The museum's announcement said many future uses for the site are being explored.
According to data provided by the museum, the Higgins has 360 members and 455 benefactors.
Maas said museum activities will continue through the end of the year "to celebrate both the museum's rich history and the collection."
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Plans For Higgins Closure Become Official
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