(Radio Iowa) – The National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa closed its doors for the final time Monday after more than 30 years in eastern Iowa. The museum, which operated as a nonprofit, closed after financial struggles that were worsened by the pandemic. The museum was packed Monday with some visitors who drove, or even flew hundreds of miles to see the collection of Americana before it was too late. Other like Robert Waalkens, of Marion had a short ride, and told K-C-R-G T-V it was the first time he ever visited.

“I’ve ridden by this ton of times and just always assumed like, yeah, I’ll be able to stop out and see it anytime I want to,” Waalkens says. The chair of the board of directors for the museum, Jill Parham, says close to one-thousand people visited Monday before they closed. Parham had been keeping the museum going after the death of her husband, John Parham, in 2017. “I am splitting up my husband’s collection,” she said. “I’m going to have a new chapter in my life that I don’t know how to handle, but I’m looking forward to it.”

National-Motorcyle-Museum-(KCRG-TV)

Parham has spent the last several years grappling with the museum’s financial struggles, so she’s ready. However, for those new to the museum, like Waalkens, he told K-C-R-G T-V it feels like they’re losing something before they ever really got to know it.“I’m surprised it’s actually going anywhere that- I kind of figured it would stick around for a long time,” Waalkens said.

The items in the museum will be auctioned off, with the bidding beginning on Thursday.