DOWNTOWN - The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which posted a $5.5 million deficit in its first 18 months, will need an estimated $2 million to $3 million a year in public funding to continue operating, CEO John Pepper said Tuesday.
Pepper's comments are the first time the center has raised the possibility of regular tax-funded support. When the Freedom Center opened in August 2004, officials said admission, memberships, donations and grants could cover its day-to-day costs, but income has not met expectations, Pepper said.
Museum officials say they have no intention of closing the center, since they have sufficient cash flow to continue operating indefinitely, as well as credit from a group of banks.
The center will not seek a voter-approved levy such as those that support Cincinnati Museum Center and Cincinnati Zoo. The center instead will ask city, state and federal governments to provide the money through some other funding source, Pepper said in an interview.
"We need to show that what we offer is vital to this community," Pepper said, citing, for example, school curricula now offered to teachers.
He also pointed to the center's potential as a place to solve racial conflicts and look for solutions to youth violence.
$2 to $3 million a year is a lot of money to provide school curricula and "potentially" talk about racial conflict.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have never been to the Freedom Center even though I would love to go. I cannot afford the entrance fees for 3 people or evn one
Yeah, it ain't cheap. It's a wonderful place to visit, but it's clearly a once in a lifetime event. I mean, who wants to go back and relive how we used to enslave our fellow countrymen. Not exactly a bunch of laughs.
This place will never be self-sufficient.
Post a Comment