The Pennsylvania Military Museum at 51 Boal Avenue closed its doors in December 2024. So why does its address keep showing up on Boalsburg's calendar between Thanksgiving and Christmas?
The building is shut, but the grounds are open. Between now and December 7, the parade grounds host a Thanksgiving morning race, a weekend-long World War II living history program and a Pearl Harbor remembrance. Meanwhile, the village holds Hometown Christmas a few blocks away and the Boal Mansion opens for candlelight tours. The museum's front door stays locked through all of it, which explains why this year's season looks the way it does.
Why the doors are still locked
The state's Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission announced the project in November 2024 as a $3.4 million upgrade covering doors, windows, heating and ventilation, artifact-preservation controls and a geothermal system. The building closed on December 8, 2024, and the plan called for about 14 months of work.
On that schedule the museum would have reopened in February 2026. In April, the Centre Daily Times reported that reopening had slipped to early 2027. Museum director Chris Kuhns told the paper the cause was a run of surprises inside an older building, plus "a very significantly lengthy lead time" on HVAC parts. The state budget impasse also kept the new exhibits from going out to bid.
Finishing construction doesn't mean the museum can reopen. The Centre Daily Times described four steps that have to happen in order.
- Finish the building renovation.
- Run the new HVAC system for 90 days to confirm it holds steady humidity. Moving artifacts back too early carries a real risk: if the system failed, every wool World War I uniform in the collection could fall apart.
- Fabricate the new exhibits, a process that takes about nine months.
- Install the exhibits, then reopen.
Steps two and three alone add up to roughly a year once construction is done. PHMC's March 2026 meeting minutes also projected installation and a grand reopening in early 2027.
The museum's own Fall 2026 update says nearly all the building-envelope work is done, with corrective work, touch-ups and a deep cleaning still to go. It also says the geothermal system turned out to be more complicated than the contractors and architects expected, which forced a redesign so the structure could hold the equipment. Staff are getting ready to move more than 14,000 artifacts back inside. The update gives no new reopening date, and it describes quality as more important than "adhering to the original timeline."
That leaves 75 acres the museum still can use. According to the same update, a two-person maintenance team keeps the grounds and memorials in shape while staff and volunteers run programs outdoors and at partner sites. The holiday calendar below is what that looks like from Boalsburg.
A Thursday lecture before the holidays begin
The museum's four-part History After Hours lecture series wraps up on Thursday, November 12, from 7 to 8 p.m. Dr. Walter Zapotoczny will speak on the 28th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge. The museum says the series is free. Happy Valley Adventure Bureau's listing names the museum as the venue but doesn't say where on the property the talk will be held, so check before you head over.
The topic previews the museum's big December weekend, which covers the same campaign.
Thanksgiving morning starts on the parade grounds
The 14th Annual NVRC Boalsburg Turkey Trot starts at 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 26. The 2-mile, 5K and 8K courses all start and finish on the museum grounds. NVRC is the Nittany Valley Running Club.
Race proceeds stay local. According to the race's registration page, the beneficiaries are Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy cross-country and track teams, the Friends of the Pennsylvania Military Museum, the Krush Program and local youth running programs. While the museum is closed, a race on its lawn is one of the ways money still reaches it.
Fees go up in steps, and signup fees are extra:
- Through 11:59 p.m. on November 1: 2-mile $20, 5K $25, 8K $35
- After November 1: 2-mile $25, 5K $30, 8K $40
- Race day: 2-mile $30, 5K $35, 8K $45
Early packet pickup is Wednesday, November 25, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy, 901 Boalsburg Pike. Race-day pickup and registration run from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at the museum.
The first weekend of December stacks up
Three of Boalsburg's holiday traditions land on the same four days this year. The Ghost Front takes up the museum grounds while Hometown Christmas fills Main Street and the Diamond, and the Boal Mansion opens for candlelight tours and a holiday tea.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Dec. 4 | Candlelight Tours | Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum | TBD |
| Sat, Dec. 5 | Candlelight Tours | Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum | TBD |
| Sat, Dec. 5 | Boalsburg's Hometown Christmas | Village, Main Street and the Diamond | Starts 9 a.m. |
| Sat–Sun, Dec. 5–6 | The Ghost Front | Pennsylvania Military Museum grounds | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. |
| Sun, Dec. 6 | Victorian Holiday Tea | Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum | Noon–4 p.m. |
| Mon, Dec. 7 | Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony | Pennsylvania Military Museum | Not yet posted |
The Ghost Front, on the grounds
The Ghost Front is the museum's World War II living history program, and this year it covers the Hürtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. Guided patrol tours leave at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. There's a children's program at noon and a weapons demonstration at 2 p.m., and a 1940s Santa will be at the pavilion. StateCollege.com's event listing also mentions foxhole displays, plus Santa photos and candy. The event asks for donations, and the proceeds go to the museum.
The weekend falls just days before the second anniversary of the building's December 8 closing. The whole program runs outdoors because it has to.
Hometown Christmas, in the village
A local events calendar lists Hometown Christmas for Saturday, December 5, starting at 9 a.m. The day includes breakfast with Santa, open local shops, music, a puppet show, live reindeer, carriage rides along Main Street and the third annual Cookie Crawl. It ends on the Diamond, where Santa arrives by fire truck to light the village tree.
There's a date discrepancy to know about. The Boalsburg Heritage Museum's events page says "Saturday, December 6, 2026," but December 6 falls on a Sunday this year. Before you buy breakfast tickets or plan around the tree lighting, confirm the date and times with Historic Boalsburg. Last year's times won't necessarily carry over.
The Heritage Museum's part of the day centers on its own buildings. Its page lists homemade cookies for sale, treats baked in the Summer Kitchen, Victorian ornament-making, a puppet show in the Barn, live holiday music and a raffle.
The Boal Mansion, after its season
The Columbus Chapel & Boal Mansion Museum at 163 Boal Estate Drive ended its regular 2026 tour season on November 1. It reopens for Candlelight Tours on December 4 and 5, with times still to be announced. The Victorian Holiday Tea follows on December 6 from noon to 4 p.m. The museum notes that all event times and dates are subject to change.
Pearl Harbor Day
The museum's fall update says its annual Pearl Harbor Remembrance Ceremony on December 7 closes out the 2026 season. The time hasn't been posted yet, so keep an eye on the museum's events page.
One more date after Christmas
The Boal Mansion hosts a St. John the Evangelist Feast Day Celebration, with a wine blessing and social, on Sunday, December 27, at 1 p.m. It's the last date on the village's 2026 calendar.
What the wait buys in 2027
Kuhns told the Centre Daily Times that the lobby and gift shop will look mostly the same, with a few cosmetic updates. The rest is another story:
"It will be almost entirely brand new... beyond that ... you won't be able to recognize anything."
A second Centre Daily Times story, from April 18, described the design. Walls and partitions will divide what used to be one large open floor into separate galleries. About half of the more than 1,000 artifacts on display will be different from what was shown before. A visitor who reads everything could spend more than three hours inside, compared with about an hour on past visits.
Until the new galleries are built and installed, the museum's year-round presence in Boalsburg is the lawn. The next public date there is the 9 a.m. start of the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.
Planning around the first weekend of December, or trying to work out which events are in walking distance of each other in the village? Theresa Layton keeps track of what's happening around Boalsburg all year and is glad to compare notes. Let's Connect.
