June 2, 2008
Downeast Heritage Museum closes
The troubled Downeast Heritage Museum will not open this summer because of debt and a lack of operating capital.
The Calais museum, which opened in June 2004 at a cost of $6.6 million, needs about $100,000 this summer to operate, Jim Porter, president of the museum's board, told the Bangor Daily News. In the future, the museum would need between $200,000 and $400,000 annually to stay open, he told the paper. The museum has struggled from the beginning to find sustainable funding: During the construction phase a $1 million, five-year infusion of cash from the federal government fell through because of budget cuts, and in 2006 the museum laid off its staff and filed for bankruptcy protection to reduce its debt to the building's mortgage holder, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency, from $3.2 million to $600,000.
The museum's board is now considering negotiating a transfer of ownership of its long-term lease to private companies like L.L.Bean or Cabela's, according to the paper. A decision on the fate of the museum will be made within the next few months.
The Calais museum, which opened in June 2004 at a cost of $6.6 million, needs about $100,000 this summer to operate, Jim Porter, president of the museum's board, told the Bangor Daily News. In the future, the museum would need between $200,000 and $400,000 annually to stay open, he told the paper. The museum has struggled from the beginning to find sustainable funding: During the construction phase a $1 million, five-year infusion of cash from the federal government fell through because of budget cuts, and in 2006 the museum laid off its staff and filed for bankruptcy protection to reduce its debt to the building's mortgage holder, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency, from $3.2 million to $600,000.
The museum's board is now considering negotiating a transfer of ownership of its long-term lease to private companies like L.L.Bean or Cabela's, according to the paper. A decision on the fate of the museum will be made within the next few months.
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