Exploration Place needs your (a) attendance, or (b) tax dollars

The Wichita Eagle is reporting today (no subscription required) that Exploration Place needs 2.8 million dollars per year to stay open.  With an operating budget of 4.7 million for next year the muesem is in financial trouble - even considering dipping into their endowment to pay for operating expenses.

"The consultant, Diane Frankel, said the museum would need permanent help from the public, either the city or county, and possibly even a special arts tax."

Just what we need, a special arts tax to go alone with our sports (arena) tax. It reminds me of a joke. 

Have you heard about the new simplified tax form for businesses? It has only three boxes. In the first box you write your revenue, in the second total expenses, and the third (the difference between box one and two) is the amount you remit to the government. 

Comments

[John Cooke]

Yet another failed attempt to force Wichita to grow. Just like the downtown arena, water walk and countless other City or County sponsored initiatives, Exploration Place is well on it's way to becoming another failed attempt to grow our metropolis. Rather than working with businesses to understand what impedes their growth and then removing those roadblocks, our City and County officials continue to act like someone playing SimCity. I'm curious what, if any, kind of market analysis was done to prior to the building of Exploration Place or what the job requirements were for those who would be running it. With Allison's comment about the use of tax dollars being seen as a "...a helping hand, not as a handout," it appears the word-spinning has already begun to turn Exploration place into yet another "helping hand" social program created for the benefit of the tax payers. Allison's statement to explain the use of the $2.8MM shortfall says it all, saying that Exploration place would..."use the $2.8 million to improve exhibits, hire a museum director and increase marketing." It sounds like to me that they already have the telltale philosophy of most government programs, if our superbly grand idea proves unsuccessful it's easier to blame failure on the economy or terrorists, rather than ourselves.