ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Allentown's Liberty Bell Museum opened Memorial Day 1962. However, Friday or Saturday will be its last day open.

The museum and the new owners of Zion's Church couldn't agree on a new lease. For 60 years the church charged the museum $1. However, the new owners, Resurrected Life, wanted the museum to pay over $1,000 a month, then escalating to market rate in three years.

All this means the time to toll the Liberty Bell replica is now finite, for 12-year Allentown Liberty Bell Museum Manager Stephanie Burke. Ringing the bell is part of her duties as a museum tour guide.

"I have a lot of emotions at the moment. The things I'm going to miss the most are the kids that come in," she said.

The 61-year-old museum sits in the basement of Zion's Church and honors where the original Liberty Bell was hidden during the Revolutionary War.

However, a new deal has been reached, as The Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum is taking the Liberty Bell Museum's artifacts, including the 1777 brake handle from the wagon that brought the bell from Philadelphia.

Executive Director Joe Garrera and Chief Curator Jill Youngkin are turning the Presidents gallery into an expansive, permanent exhibit, showcasing the local and national Liberty Bell story. However, it will lack one main thing. The replica bell is state owned and currently leased to the church. It's set to stay.

As for Burke, the museum's closure may not erase history, but it does dilute its impact.

"We have had kids go, 'this is the best museum ever.' And that is what I am truly going to miss. And that is what the Lehigh Valley is going to miss as well," she said.

We did reach out to Zion's Church, about when items inside must be moved. As of now we have not heard back. The state says the replica bell's loan is subject to renewal.

If it were to be moved, they would have to agree.

The Heritage Museum says it needs at least six months for their new Liberty Bell display to be ready.

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