The museum raised the money from foundations and the local lottery.
No one seemed to mind, and the museum raised $250,000.
The museum raised its general admission charge last week to $3 per person, $1.50 for students and senior citizens.
The museum is raising about $10 million to complete the purchase.
The museum must raise another $700,000 to receive the money.
The museum actually raised $7.5 million for the project, in addition to the Prices' gift.
He said the museum had raised nearly $6 million for the building fund.
But the museum has raised only $35,000 of the $100,000 needed to acquire the ship.
So far the museum has raised about half the amount and fingers are crossed that they can find the rest before June.
She added that the museum had already raised $205,000 toward what it must pay the college.