Three Pittsburgh organizations have offered to rescue the Fort Pitt Museum, which has been recommended for closing because of state budget problems.

The Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum, the Senator John Heinz History Center and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall all have proposed plans for keeping the landmark building in Point State Park open after June 30.

A staff report from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission had recommended closing state-run museums at Pittsburgh's Fort Pitt and at Bushy Run Battlefield in Westmoreland County. That sustainability report was issued as the state struggles to erase a more than $2 billion budget deficit.

"I think we have the best plan," said Donn Neal, president of Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum, a booster association that he said has grown from about 90 to 400 members since the state raised the possibility that the museum might close. The Friends' proposal calls for decreasing state subsidies over the next six years. At the end of that period, the museum would operate as an independent entity.

Andrew Masich, president of the history center, pointed to a common mission shared by his institution and the Fort Pitt Museum. "We have a long history of interpreting the French & Indian War," he said. "We've done programs, exhibits and publications."

Ron Gancas, president of Soldiers & Sailors, said his Oakland-based institution has experience in transforming a government-run facility into a free-standing operation. Soldiers & Sailors, now overseen by its own board, used to be run by Allegheny County. Its county funding has dropped from $1 million to about $200,000 annually, Mr. Gancas said.

All three institutions pledged to continue to operate the Fort Pitt Museum at its present Downtown site in Point State Park. All three indicated they would need transition funds from the state to support a takeover.

The museum is in a reproduction of one of the bastions of the 18th century fortress the British built at the Point. Control of that triangular piece of land, where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers come together to form the Ohio, was one of the main British goals during the long and bloody French & Indian War.

The state Historical & Museum Commission will consider all proposals for keeping Fort Pitt and Bushy Run museums open, spokesman Kirk Wilson said. "Our goal is not to see them close but to allow them to interpret history for years to come," he said.

No decisions on the museums' future will come until after public meetings are held next month, he said.

The membership growth seen by the Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum -- in addition to about 1,000 e-mail messages of support -- indicates strong interest in keeping the museum in operation, Mr. Neal said.

The Friends' plan calls for a transition period of no more than six years, during which about $300,000 in state funding would be reduced by $50,000 each year.

"We see opportunities for partnerships with hotels, taxi cab operators and van services to encourage tourism," he said. An independent Fort Pitt Museum could cooperate with the Heinz History Center, Soldiers & Sailors Memorial and Bushy Run to develop plans for combined entrance fees and multi-site tours, he said.

The Friends organization has retained nonprofit consultant Linda Dickerson to help draft a business plan.

Sources of additional revenue include building rentals, gift shop sales, increased numbers of admissions and corporate support, she said. "How can we allow an important piece of our own and of our nation's history to be lost for $300,000 or $400,000 a year -- half of which could be earned without trying very hard?" she asked.

The Heinz History Center already employs curators, educators, marketing staff and facilities managers, Mr. Masich said. Extending those services to the Fort Pitt Museum would produce efficiencies and money-saving economies of scale, he said.

Union with the History Center also could boost attendance, he predicted. About 50,000 schoolchildren visit the history center each year. "It would be a natural fit for us to take on the Fort Pitt Museum," Mr. Masich said. "When teachers are booking tours, they could be asked about adding on a visit to Fort Pitt."

He pointed to the History Center's track record in merging with other museums, including the Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Museum of Rural Life in Washington County. In 2007, it absorbed the George Westinghouse Museum, adding those artifacts to its collection.

Like the Fort Pitt Museum, the History Center relies on about 600 volunteers to augment its staff, Mr. Masich said. Organizations like the Friends of the Fort Pitt Museum would continue to play a critical role following any merger, he said.

If Soldiers & Sailors Memorial were to take over the Fort Pitt Museum, it would represent a logical extension of the Oakland institution's mission, Mr. Gancas said.

"As a historian and as a Pittsburgher, I felt it is important that Fort Pitt Museum remain where it is," he said. "This second thing -- and it is of equal importance -- is that we want to make sure that all of our veterans are honored."

The soldiers and militiamen who served at Fort Pitt during the French & Indian War, Pontiac's War and the American Revolution are part of a continuous line of service that extends through current conflicts in the Middle East, he said.

He, too, sees potential in offering combined tours that would increase attendance at both institutions.

More paid admissions and new rental income would slash the need for state funding. "The museum would be a grand place for weddings and for corporate functions," he said.