KO'd? Muhammad Ali boyhood home museum shuts down

The Muhammad Ali Childhood Home Museum shut down this week, less than two years after opening, one of the owners confirmed Friday.

The restored home in western Louisville where Muhammad Ali was raised as Cassius Clay opened for tours to the general public for the first time in May 2016, just a few days before Ali died at the age of 74. The news of its closure was first reported Friday by WAVE 3 News.

Owners made the decision in the last week, said George Bochetto, a Philadelphia lawyer who opened it along with fellow Ali fan Jared Weiss.

"We're absolutely heartbroken the city does not want to join in the effort in preserving this not just national, but international, historic landmark," Bochetto said Friday. "Our goal has always been to share this museum with as many people as possible because it truly offers so much, particularly to the disadvantaged. So much learning, so much optimism, so much opportunity."

Chris Poynter, spokesman for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, called the museum's closing "unfortunate" but said the city had previously contributed $50,000 to the project the investment group had never picked up.

"We thought $50,000 showed we were an important partner and willing to put some city money behind it," he said. "It's not sustainable to have the city funding it every year. It would not be a wise use of tax dollars."

The owners plan to start entertaining offers to move the home and museum to another city, Bochetto said. He declined to elaborate on the "several cities" that are interested but said his hometown Philadelphia was among them.

Related: Ali boyhood home opens for tours on Saturday

More: Muhammad Ali Center hosts memorial service honoring Ali on anniversary of his death

Earlier this year, days before the city's six-week celebration of Ali, the owners of the restored home said they could be forced to close the museum unless they got an infusion of cash.

Bochetto and Weiss, a Nevada real estate investor, spent more than $250,000 on the home's restoration. Weiss originally purchased the boyhood home, then rundown and vacant, for $70,000 in 2012.

Weiss declined a request for comment Friday evening through a spokeswoman at Motion Properties, his Nevada real estate company.

In mid-July, Bochetto said owners were asking the city and Mayor Greg Fischer for financial assistance to improve the facility and better market it as a tourist attraction. He said then that more than 10,000 people had already toured the home.

Bochetto would not go into the details about what they were seeking from city officials, other than to say they had "beseeched the city to join with us to celebrate this home and this museum."

"The city would not step up and preserve what is probably the crown jewel of Louisville," he said, "and it astonishes me, and we're heartbroken about it."

Poynter also declined to elaborate on the private discussions, but said officials had been hopeful there would be other local, private investors.

He thanked Bochetto and the other investors on behalf of the city, adding that the museum owners had a "great vision."

"We think it was an important asset for the city, for tourism, for telling Ali's full story of the neighborhood he grew up in," Poynter said. "... At the end of the day, you have to have people coming through the door to make the numbers work."

And, as for moving the museum: "Muhammad Ali's boyhood home will be only at 3302 Grand Avenue in Louisville," Poynter said.

Reach reporter Darcy Costello at 502-582-4834 or dcostello@courier-journal.com.