OAK PARK (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Unless a fundraising effort is successful, the man in charge of the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum in Oak Park says it might have to close permanently.
In-person visits to the restored home where the legendary author was born in 1899 have been limited to Saturdays since July because of the pandemic.
Keith Strom, executive director of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation in Oak Park, on Wednesday said there isn't enough money coming in to keep the museum operating.
He says that's why the museum launched a Go Fund Me campaign, hoping to raise $75,000.
Strom says even if the museum doesn't reach its goal, any funds could help the site keep operating until the pandemic eases. At worst, the site would close permanently, he said.
With his sparse, direct style of writing, Hemingway, who died in 1961, is considered one of the most influential authors of the 20th Century.
His novels include The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
