The Sports Legends Museum in Baltimore "abruptly closed its doors" yesterday, after it was "unable to reach an agreement on a new lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority for its space next to Oriole Park at Camden Yards," according to a front-page piece by Sherman, Encina & Barker of the Baltimore SUN. The decision "came after years of rent negotiations." The MSA "expects to take a more comprehensive look at the property in the coming year." The museum "is seeking a new location and is moving some of the collection in the interim to the Babe Ruth birthplace museum." Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation Exec Dir Mike Gibbons said that staying in the current building on the one-year lease offered by the Stadium Authority "was not financially viable." Sherman, Encina & Barker note the museum's collection of memorabilia "is valued" at $3.2M in recent tax records. Gibbons said that attendance at the museum "had fallen drastically short of projections." Visitor traffic to the museum "ranges from about 40,000 to 70,000 annually." The museum "had been hoping to negotiate a five-year deal, with monthly payments of about $10,000 for its 22,000-square-foot space." MSA Exec Dir Michael Frenz said that the authority, which wants to lease the property at market rate, "was seeking about $17,000 a month in rent." Museum BOD Chair John Moag said that the facility "intends to stay in Baltimore" (Baltimore SUN, 10/13).
