Mount Pleasant Glass Museum closes
Faced with a lack of financial support, as well as a shrinking and aging volunteer base, the board of directors of the Mount Pleasant Glass Museum in Mount Pleasant Township agreed to close the museum effective immediately.
“We were never able to get enough money to support it,” said board president Sandy Spence, adding the budget for the museum was roughly $30,000 a year.
“Mostly people over 60 came to the museum,” she said.
The museum received two grants this year, Spence said. The catch, however, was that these were matching grants. The museum did not have enough cash for the match, which would be about $15,000.
The museum opened four years ago in the old Lenox Crystal Plant in Mount Pleasant, which closed in 2001. The mission of the museum was to promote the region’s glass-making history and items made by L.E. Smith, Bryce Brothers and Lenox. Items housed in the museum include blown and cut crystal used in the White House, as well as the first headlight lenses made for the Model T.
In addition, the museum served as a base of operations for Peter O’Rourke, a township resident and internationally known glass cutter and engraver, who made the crystal bowl presented to President Donald Trump at his January swearing-in ceremony.
Cassandra Vivian, who ran the museum until she resigned in January 2016, said its rural location on Route 30 made it tough to attract visitors and stay financially viable. She also said at the time of her resignation, the museum had 200 members, 30 of whom were from the Mount Pleasant area.
“We had a rough time,” Vivian said. “Museums in general are in trouble. We were also located way out in the country.”
Spence, whose family worked at L.E. Smith for four generations, said the museum is working to place number of its artifacts with other area museums including the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, as well as the Museum of American Glass in Weston, W.Va.
“We don’t have a complete inventory yet, but anything that was donated will go to a museum,” she said.
“It’s tragic.”