Historic Childhood Home of Carl Sandburg in Jeopardy

If you're in western Illinois, get your visit to Carl Sandburg's childhood home in while you can -- sadly, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that it might be impossible in the future, due to lack of funding:

The Carl Sandburg Historic Site in Galesburg -- which was already closed once because of state budget problems -- won't be open most of the winter and officials running the site aren't sure if it will reopen in the spring, according to a story posted online today in the (Galesburg) Register-Mail.

"We're at a crossroads," Chuck Bednar, chairman of the Carl Sandburg Historic Site Association, told the newspaper. "We hope the funding will be there, but if it isn't there, what next?"

The western Illinois site includes the author's childhood home, an adjacent garden, visitors' center and a barn. It's maintained by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Over the years, the site has faced major problems because of the state's budget woes. It was among the historic sites that state officials closed in 2008 to cut costs. The site later reopened, but only on a seasonal schedule.

The late writer's home gets around 6,000 visits annually. The cost for operation is about $18,000 a year, which doesn't include the salary of a full-time person to run the site.

Bednar acknowledges that it's not a money-making operation, but said the value of the historic site is beyond money.

Perhaps they could somehow partner with the National Parks Service to raise the funds -- Sandburg's 264-acre family farm (and collection of 10,000 books) is open year-round in North Carolina and is a national historic site.