 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Indiana citizens banded together for Jimmy Stewart
Wednesday, March 31, 1999 By Barbara Vancheri, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Actor Ernest Borgnine, who was both co-star and friend to Jimmy Stewart, will receive the 1999 Harvey Award on May 22 at the Indiana Country Club. The James M. Stewart Museum Foundation will bestow the honor to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the museum honoring Indiana's favorite son.
Since opening on the third floor of the Indiana public library in 1995, the Jimmy Stewart Museum has attracted nearly 35,000 visitors from all 50 states and two dozen countries. "It's a lot of work. I would probably term it a labor of love for a lot of different people," suggests Elizabeth Salome, a one-time volunteer who is now director.
"It was really a combination of a lot of different people in town pulling together and making this work. It's been good to Indiana; it's brought a lot of people to Indiana."
The Harvey Award should generate the three building blocks for the museum's continued success: visitors, money and attention. It will bring Borgnine, who appeared with Stewart in "Flight of the Phoenix," to the museum that afternoon to sign autographs; it will raise funds at a $100-a-person gala dinner; and it will generate publicity.
In the past, Harveys have gone to actresses Shirley Jones, Janet Leigh and June Allyson, along with Stewart's three surviving children. A Harvey is a miniature bronze lamppost like the one where Elwood P. Dowd first encountered the 6-foot invisible white rabbit in the 1950 comedy.
Although talk about honoring Stewart had floated around the university town for years, it was rekindled during a birthday bash that included the dedication of a 9-foot bronze statue of the lanky star. It stands in front of the Indiana County Courthouse.
"When he was in Indiana in '83 for his 75th birthday, it was such a wonderful experience for the community and left such a great feeling, people wanted to keep that feeling somehow," recalls lawyer Jay Rubin, president of the James M. Stewart Museum Foundation.
"He was a very humble individual and did not believe he was entitled to all the kudos, the homage that people paid, how much he was loved around the world," says Rubin.
In fall 1992, Rubin - carrying letters from fellow Indiana supporters - met with Stewart in the den of his Beverly Hills home and asked not for money or memorabilia but approval. Organizers didn't want to start a museum and have Stewart's progeny try to close it.
If a museum were to open, Stewart favored a location on the main thoroughfare in an existing building. He endorsed the idea of a non-profit organization, with folks he knew on the board. And, most important, he liked hearing that a museum could bring tourists to an area that had been hit by job losses in the coal mines and other industries.
"When he saw who was behind it, the fact we weren't standing there with our hands out but were trying to do something for the betterment of Indiana, he went along with it," Rubin says.
The upper floor of the library, owned by the borough of Indiana and offering 6,000 square feet of space, proved the perfect location. It's at the intersection of Ninth and Philadelphia streets, around the corner from the courthouse.
Like a movie with hundreds of cast and crew, the museum was very much a joint effort. Fifteen committees with 100 volunteers were formed. Banks were approached and a $75,000 line of credit extended. Donations of cash and in-kind services, totaling anywhere from $325,000 to $400,000, poured in like teary tributes at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life."
Universal Studios provided sound and projection equipment for what is now a 52-seat theater. Curtains came from Indiana High School and theater seats, later restored, from a closed Blairsville school.
An architect designed the museum for free. The local vocational-technical school helped to gut the space. A supporter tracked down an old Warner Theatre ticket window from an antique dealer and donated it. "We had people who came in, looked at the project, started estimating their costs and then said, 'It's on us,' " says Rubin.
The museum opened on Stewart's 87th birthday. It's chockfull of memorabilia about the movie star, the family man and the decorated military officer.
What's called the Indiana Gallery celebrates the history of the Stewart family and the county. A CD audio tour of the gallery, narrated by AMC's Nick Clooney, is available for a small fee. The Hollywood Gallery offers photos, posters and artifacts of Stewart's 80 films. The theater allows the museum to show various documentaries and biographies of Stewart, including ones produced by A&E and the BBC.
Stewart's death in July 1997 brought new attention to the museum. "We were really overwhelmed by e-mails, phone messages, people coming. Since his death, more people are aware we're here," says Salome. His death also brought the museum 2,200 pounds of fresh artifacts, some of which are on display and some in storage.
"This whole project was done without any federal or state funds. We did it all on our own," the foundation president notes.
Opening the museum was just the first hurdle. Keeping it open is proving even more complicated. "Success has created other challenges," Rubin says. "We've expanded into so many different programs, trying to make sure it's all a success and doing well, it's a constant process."
And the process is far from over, with a new museum in the drafting stage. It would re-create the facade of the family hardware store in a nearby location and provide more space. Rubin says, "The museum's foundation board keeps actively trying to make what we have bigger and better through dreaming and working."
You can reach the museum by calling 800-83-JIMMY or accessing www.jimmy.org.
|
||||||||
