As seen in Burlington Free Press - Vermont
Museum exits Moran Plant
By John Briggs
Free Press Staff Writer
The Green Mountain Children’s Museum, one of three partners with the city of Burlington in the redevelopment of the Moran power plant, said Thursday that it is pulling out of the project. Mayor Bob Kiss said the museum’s decision will not derail the plan approved by voters in 2008.
Read statement from Green Mountain Children's Museum (PDF, 252 KB)
Read statement from Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss (PDF, 88 KB)
“Moran continues to be an exciting project that will revitalize the waterfront, foster local economic development and bring significant community benefits to the residents of Burlington,” Kiss said in a prepared statement. “The Moran project has progressed to a stage which will very soon require formal commitments from the city and the tenants through the execution of final development agreements. It is clear that the economy is causing all of the partners to sharpen their pencils as this project moves forward.”
The City Council, the Board of Finance and the council’s Parks, Arts and Culture Committee will receive updates on the project next week. The proposal called for the museum to join the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center and Ice Factor, a Scottish-based adventure-recreation operation, in resurrecting the defunct power station into a community resource.
The museum’s board chairwoman, Mia Graham Beer, said the museum board decided it “couldn’t proceed with confidence, knowing what the finances were. We were presented with numbers by the city (and) that number, in addition to our pre-operating costs, was higher than we could justify.”
She said the museum has no other location in mind but needs a spot that will allow it to keep admission prices affordable. “I’m confident we will establish a children’s museum in Burlington,” she said. “Unfortunately, it won’t be at the Moran.”
She and city officials said there had been no disagreement between the city and the museum.
The news of the museum’s pull-out was so sudden that the city issued a news release before it was able to inform Ice Factor, the project’s for-profit anchor.
“We didn’t make contact,” Community and Economic Development Officer Director Larry Kupferman said. “We will shortly.”
He said the museum made its decision Tuesday and informed the mayor Wednesday.
“The news is no great surprise,” Ice Factor managing director Jamie Smith said in an e-mail to The Burlington Free Press. “Any company is having to work hard to structure deals in this climate, let alone start-up nonprofits. ... From our perspective, nothing changes. Burlington is a seminal location for us to establish our first U.S. Ice Factor. ... We remain committed to playing our part in the redevelopment of the waterfront. We’re on the move.”
The museum’s decision leaves the $21 million project with a $2.3 million to $2.7 million shortfall, and with a development plan for the building that includes space designed for the museum’s use.
Kupferman said his office was working Thursday to develop criteria for an RFP — a request for proposals — that would allow other groups to bid to become the plant’s third tenant. Developing the RFP, he said, could take a few weeks as CEDO “processes this with the council.”
David G. White, of White + Burke Real Estate Investment Advisors, who has worked as the city’s chief outside consultant on the Moran development agreement, said any project has “bumps in the road. This project is no different. The space ... (the museum) would have used is wonderfully attractive and will be appealing to other potential users.”
White said the city’s funding for the project is now clear and will be given to the Board of Finance on Nov. 16. “We have a project which today is much more real than it was even six months ago, let alone two years ago,” he said. “This project is gaining momentum (and) moving forward in a very solid direction. ... It’s disappointing to lose a great tenant like the Green Mountain Children’s Museum, but none of our funding is tied to this specific user. We’ll proceed apace.”
“I’ll be very surprised if we don’t have multiple parties interested (in the museum’s space),” he said.
City Council President Bill Keogh, D-Ward 5, who was the only councilor in 2008 to withhold his support for the Moran project before the city vote, said the museum announcement “is discouraging news for those who support the project. It’s time to reassess the process, time for the administration to reassess the situation and consider refocusing on our economic development in the downtown and finding occupants for General Dynamics.”
General Dynamics, a defense contractor with 450 employees, announced in late October that it would leave Burlington and relocate in Williston. Kupferman said the city had no advance notice of the company’s plans to move and called it “a shock to the confidence of the city to have a major employer leave.”
Paul Decelles, R-Ward 7, said the museum’s decision is more than a bump in the road. “Voters supported not a concept but four ... entities signing up for this project,” he said. “Now that one is definitely out, I don’t see how this project can move forward without going back to the voters. I’m quite disheartened.”
He said he is preparing a resolution for Monday’s City Council meeting that would freeze new spending on the Moran project “until we get all this figured out.”
“This is a tough pill for the average guy, to finance BT and be on the hook for Moran,” Decelles said, referring to the recent revelation that Burlington Telecom, despite a prohibition in its state license, has used $17 million of city funds for operations and capital expenses. “Something’s going to give.”
“We know that’s an aspect that needs to be discussed (with the City Council),” Kupferman said of the possibility of a new referendum on the project. Kiss said it is premature to talk about a new vote.Kupferman said the museum’s decision is disappointing. “We’ve designed the building with them in mind. (This is) closing a door. We’re not happy about that. We need to regroup and rebound carefully and be confident we can move forward.”
Beer, the museum’s board chairwoman, said the decision was a hard one. “It’s very disappointing. People were trying to do good things,” she said. “It’s hard to step away from, but we wouldn’t be fiscally responsible if we continued.”
Contact John Briggs at 660-1863 or jbriggs@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com. See Briggs’ City Hall blog at www.burlingtonfreepress.com/cityhallblog.