ABBEVILLE, La. ( KLFY ) — The closure of the Louisiana Military Museum is opening the door to questions about funding irregularities.

Elista Istre, a former consultant of the military museum said, “For many years, the Louisiana Military Museum was located in Abbeville. I was involved with it for the last five years, and in those five years, we saw tremendous improvements and growth and visitors and veterans services. All of the museum exhibits were completely redone as the public provided funding and as grants came in. All the exhibits were redone. We established annual programs. Things are really, really looking up for the museum as a whole, and as a museum professional that just warms my heart.”

She continues, “When visitors came into the museum, they were able to experience Louisiana’s history from a military perspective, from the French and Indian War in the 1700s, all the way to the present. It was literally a walk through history and highlighting the contributions that Louisiana’s service members have made over time throughout the centuries.”

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She said in December, the board of directors had a “secret meeting” in which they decided to halt operations and then in subsequent meetings, they decided to close the museum.

“The impact has been devastating, really, because so many veterans have looked to that place for a source of healing and gathering,” she said.

An impact on the community where she said 400-plus people show up for Memorial Day ceremonies. At the last Veteran Heritage Festival, they had over 700 fields of students in a single day that came through.

Istre said teachers, veterans, and members of the community have called wondering why they have not seen any promotion for Memorial Day or Veterans Day as they want to bring their loved ones to the museum or continue the annual tradition by visiting.

“That can’t happen anymore. As the person who was essentially running the museum for the last five years because they didn’t have a permanent staff there to put that much time and effort and to see that much support coming in from the community and that much need in our community to have a place like this,” she said. “There’s no other place in the state of Louisiana that tells a story like this museum did and there’s no other place in Acadiana that I’ve experienced where veterans really came together and I mean, tears streaming down their faces when they walk in the door sometimes. It was just a very powerful, meaningful place and it’s devastating to know that that place will no longer serve that purpose.”

The financial statement shows a deficit last year. The total expenditures show $100,193.05 but the net operating revenue shows -$61,593.75. See the financial statement in its entirety below:

“The public has given generously, they gave of their resources. They gave of their time, they donated precious artifacts. I mean, the public, they showed up for events. They spread the word. They’ve been incredibly supportive of the museum all this time. The board of directors has not handled their responsibilities in a way that reflects the generosity and kindness that the public has shown them over the years,” she said. “They have not acted in a way that serves the interests of the museum first, which is what a board of directors should do for a nonprofit organization, and that has cost the community dearly.”

Istre said change is necessary to get the museum back up and running.

“There’s a statement that I heard a long time ago and it stuck with me for years. But you cannot allow the people who created the problem to be in charge of the solution and I think that the only way and this is my professional opinion because I’ve worked with a lot of nonprofits and museums over my 20-plus years of experience, the only way for this museum to regain any traction whatsoever and regain any sort of public trust is if there’s a new board of directors and a clean slate and transparency which has been lacking transparency, integrity,” she said.

She expressed appreciation to all of the veterans, members of the community, and the students who have come to the museum over the years and supported all of their efforts. She said it has been an amazing success over the five years she was part of it.

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