In the aftermath of former Harrisburg mayor Stephen Reed's arraignment Tuesday on several criminal counts including theft, bribery and evidence tampering, a debate has been reignited in Pennsylvania's capital over whether the National Civil War Museum should be closed in light of the allegations.
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Current Harrisburg mayor Eric Papenfuse, who argued last year that the museum should be closed, called it a "monument to corruption" on Wednesday and repeated that the hotel tax money on which it relies would be better spent elsewhere, according to PennLive.
While the grand jury presentment against Reed did not include any reference to corrupt activities involving the National Civil War Museum, Papenfuse suggested it stands as a symbol of the financial mismanagement during Reed's 28-year tenure and is part of a chapter the city needs to close.
Harrisburg filed for bankruptcy in 1982 when Reed took office and went on receivership until 2014. The city remains under state financial oversight. Despite Papenfuse's campaigns to freeze the percentage of hotel tax funds received by the museum through the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau, an investigation by Dauphin County in 2014 did not support the mayor and Harrisburg City Council's efforts.
Papenfuse has previously argued that the museum has no other plan than to be subsidized and that the museum's board should relinquish the building and its artifacts so that they can be used to help Harrisburg recover from the financial turmoil brought on by the Reed administration.
Reed, 65, has denied the charges leveled against him on Tuesday and vowed to wage a "vigorous fight" to clear his name. Additional charges include deceptive business practices, criminal solicitation and dealing in the proceeds of illicit activity. Reed is due back in court on July 24 and was released on a $150,000 recognizance bond.
The National Civil War Museum, located in Harrisburg's Reservoir Park, houses 17 exhibits that contain more than 4,400 three-dimensional artifacts and 21,000 archival pieces, from Union and Confederate tactics books and regimental histories to a collection of memorabilia from Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
Read more at PennLive.