Alex Slitz / Daily NewsChuck Phillips of Bowling Green, who runs the Barren River Imaginative Museum of Science, is set to close the facility Sunday.

The Barren River Imaginative Museum of Science, contending with a lack of financial resources, will close permanently Sunday.

The decision to close the museum on Center Street was made last week during a meeting of the BRIMS board of directors and announced Monday in a news release.

BRIMS opened in 1994 and its hands-on exhibits helped the museum become a popular field trip destination for many schools in the area. The museum also partnered with Western Kentucky University and Green River Regional Educational Cooperative to provide science content training to hundreds of teachers through workshops and in-school visits.

The Bowling Green and Warren County school districts provided financial support to BRIMS each year in return for museum access and classroom visits.

Board President Jeff Moore said the decision was not arrived at lightly, though the financial struggles BRIMS faced made the option to close unavoidable.

“We were in the process of trying to do a fundraiser and just realized that our need of operating expenses would exceed that fundraiser,” Moore said. “We would need some sizable donations to get us back on our feet.”

Discussions among board members determined that contributions totaling $25,000 would help get the museum back on its feet, Moore said.

The expense of looking for someone to replace BRIMS Executive Director Chuck Phillips, who intends to retire, and the recommended refurbishing of the A-frame building that houses the museum also pressed on BRIMS directors. Taking those realities into consideration, Moore said the museum would need to have $50,000 to meet those and other potential expenses.

“We would need to have that cushion in case other expenses pile up on us,” Moore said.

BRIMS opened with 20 exhibits, but its inventory nearly tripled over the years and 10 new exhibits arrived just two months ago from the Evansville (Ind.) Museum of Arts, History and Science.

“BRIMS has been a shining light in hands-on science education for southcentral Kentucky,” Phillips said in a news release. “We have provided an enriching and entertaining experience for over 100,000 students with our activities at the museum and our classroom visits. Seeing how many schools have embraced BRIMS over the years makes this decision to close the museum very difficult.”

Moore praised Phillips for the enthusiasm with which he approached his job as BRIMS executive director and the many outreach programs that brought the community to the museum.

An open house will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday for the community to honor the museum and the efforts of volunteers to keep BRIMS running.

Moore said the exhibits in the museum would be distributed to several organizations that have supported BRIMS.

“We have a good partnership with the elementary, middle and high schools as well as Western Kentucky University,” Moore said.

The building that houses the museum is owned by Warren County Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon, who leased it to BRIMS for $1 a year, Moore said.

Though BRIMS’ closing appears inevitable, museum officials hold out hope that someone will step in to help keep BRIMS alive.

“If we did find a benefactor or a coalition of benefactors willing to (donate), the possibility (of staying open) is still out there,” Moore said. “If there’s a drive out of the community, we’re willing to have that option, too.”