Notice something missing from the PA Military Museum in Boalsburg? Repairs are underway
The display outside of the Pennsylvania Military Museum typically includes a pair of cannons, but as of last month, those have been missing.
The two 44-foot-long gun barrels that are usually displayed outside of the museum, along Boal Avenue in Boalsburg, were used aboard the USS Pennsylvania during World War II and saw action aboard the ship in the attack on Pearl Harbor, according to a press release from the museum. They were removed last month to make “necessary repairs to an exterior display” that holds the gun barrels.
“As stewards of our state and nation’s history, it is important that we care for these pieces of naval history,” Tyler O. Gum, museum director, wrote in the press release. “After more than 10 years of exposure, the necessary adjustments, and improvements are certainly due, as they would be if the barrels were still aboard the Pennsy.”
Work includes the temporary removal of the barrels from their pedestals, allowing for repairs to be completed successfully and safely, the release stated.
Maintenance and repairs are performed by a team of engineers, architects and historians. Once completed, both barrels will be remounted, allowing for continued “interpretation and long-term preservation,” the release states.
There’s no exact timeline for when the barrels will be back on display, Gum told the Centre Daily Times in an email. It will depend on materials and manufacturing of the mounting hardware, as everything has to be custom made, he said.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 3:40 PM.
