The End (of Jacksonville’s Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum)
Jacksonville’s Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum Jacksonville has closed its doors after 30 years.
The museum’s final day open to the public was Jan. 31.
Museum Director Cheryl McCain said the museum’s closure is “bittersweet” for her. As a Navy veteran, she likened the end of the Jacksonville museum to the decommissioning of a ship:
“You see the legacy of the ship and the longevity of it and it’s coming to an end,” she said. “Some ships last as long as 30 years in the military, so I look at it kind of the same way and it’s a bittersweet thing. But I’m thankful for the legacy and what Karpeles has done in the 30 years in this community.”
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum first opened in 1992. It was part of a network of 15 museums throughout the country that showcase rotating exhibits from the overarching Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, founded in 1983 by David Karpeles. It is widely known as the “world’s largest private holding of original historical manuscripts.”
This collection includes rare documents pertaining to pivotal moments in both world and American history, including Benjamin Franklin’s “Taxation Without Representation,” handwritten excerpts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes,” and Napoleon Bonaparte’s excommunication by Pope Pius VII.
Karpeles passed away a year ago in January and his children, Mark Karpeles and Cheryl Alleman have since assumed leadership roles in the organization as chief executive and chief financial officers, respectively.
Jacksonville is not the only museum in the network closing. McCain noted that four other museum already have or are expected to close, including locations in Shreveport, Louisiana and Buffalo, New York.
Housed in Springfield’s former First Church of Christ, Scientist, built in 1921, the museum needed significant repairs and renovations and McCain explained that played a primary role in the decision to close.
“This building has had its fair share of issues over the years and they just found it as too costly to try to renovate it from top to bottom, we’re talking foundation to the ceiling and all around, the facade and even the interior, and other upgrades that are needed to the building,” she said.
In addition to the manuscripts and documents it showcased, the museum had also become an integral part of the Jacksonville art community, offering rotating exhibits of local artists throughout the years. Springfield resident and artist Drew Hunter has participated in several exhibits at Karpeles throughout the years and said the museum has been a “tremendous influence” for himself and other artists.
“They’ve always been so welcoming and so ready to showcase local artists of all types, both visual and musical and some performance,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful venue, of course being housed in that magnificent structure has enhanced — just going there, being in that atmosphere is a real treat.”
“It’s such a shame to see it closing and [I] certainly hope that whoever does wind up buying it turns it into another viable space for the community,” he added.
McCain doesn’t know what the future holds for the building once the exhibits are all boxed up and cleared out, although she did note, “Someone has put in a bid on the building and I’m not really sure of what their plans are for the building.”
“Whatever it is, I hope that they keep the historical integrity of the building,” she added. “I hope they don’t tear it down. That’s what I’m hoping.”
Jacksonville Historical Society CEO Dr. Alan Bliss echoed McCain’s sentiments in an e-mail.
“Today the old church is a Jacksonville landmark and contributing structure to the Springfield’s National Register Historic District,” he wrote. “But, as we saw recently in the case of Jacksonville’s historic Ford Motor Company plant, slated for demolition, historicity and even landmark status will not be enough to save this century-old church. It will take an economically sustainable new use for the property. For old churches, such uses are hard to find.”
Although this branch of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is no more, residents can travel to St. Augustine to view these rare documents at its newly opened mini-museum off George Street. Touted as the “smallest walk-in museum in the United States,” it’s currently showcasing around 40 documents in a “temporary exhibit,” McCain said, while the organization searches for a larger, more permanent location in St. Augustine. Additionally, another location is planned for Lake Mary, roughly two hours south of Jacksonville, to be both a headquarters and museum.
In an e-mail responding to an interview request, Alleman — Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum’s CFO — wrote, “We will not be doing any more interviews till mid-March when we know more.”
By Michele Leivas
Resident Community News
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