(AP) -- ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The president of the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis is stepping down after nearly a quarter of a century.

Museum spokesman Everett Dietle told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday that Robert Archibald submitted a letter of resignation after leading the Forest Park institution for 24 years. Dietle says members of the board of trustees will meet today to discuss the situation.

Archibald has been under fire since an audit and Post-Dispatch stories about his compensation and a 2006 land deal. The museum bought property from former Mayor Freeman Bosley Junior for $875,000 without an appraisal and with the knowledge the ground was contaminated. The city now values the vacant land at about $232,000.

Archibald and Bosley deny that personal or political connections had a role in the deal.

(Information in the following story is from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com)

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