One museum opens, another one closes. Such is life in Salem these days where, despite tens of thousands of tourists descending on the city every year, the competition can be cutthroat.
We have to say we're enthusiastic about the one that's coming, and will hardly miss the one whose closing was announced late last week.
The "40 Whacks Museum" just didn't seem the right fit for Salem, especially since its main subject, Lizzie Borden, is associated with a city, Fall River, more than 70 miles south of here.
Owner Leonard Pickel pronounced himself "heartbroken" over his decision to close the attraction after two years on the Essex Street pedestrian mall.
He came to Salem he says, because far more people were likely to avail themselves of the story of Borden and the gruesome crime she was alleged to have committed, than were likely to visit her hometown. Still, the enterprise suffered from a lack of customers.
We trust prospects are brighter for the "Museum of Salem" Gordon College plans to open this spring on the ground floor of Old Town Hall.
The plan is to mount a series of photographs and small artifacts that tell the story of Salem from when it was an Indian settlement to more recent times. It's a subject that's been neglected since the Essex Institute — once the primary repository for documents and other items relating to the city's history — was folded into the Peabody Essex Museum several decades ago.
We look forward to the new museum's opening this April, and wish Mr. Pickel the best of luck in his future endeavors.
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