Veterans Museum gets gift of $75,000

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Veterans Museum gets gift of $75,000

County News

Thursday, 23 December 2010 11:58

By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor
The Osceola County Commission Monday gave the Veterans Tribute and Museum an early and unexpected Christmas present – a no-strings attached $75,000 infusion of tourist development tax funding to cover operating expenses from October of this year to the beginning of June. Commissioners approved the funding – which will be provided to the veterans group in early January once a budget amendment is voted on – essentially because the veterans group has not been able to move its museum of military history into the space promised at Osceola Heritage Park, in the building now occupied by the Kissimmee Convention & Visitors Bureau. The museum now operates from a space at Osceola Square Mall.
The original goal was for the museum to relocate to OHP in October. However, no plan has been developed by the county for relocating the visitors bureau.
While the commission did approve additional funding for the veterans group, it delayed making a decision on a $1.724 million commitment spread over two years to the group to help with various costs related to the museum’s relocation and startup, including renovation of the visitors bureau building and a future expansion. The commission also delayed considering the proposed 20-year lease of the facility to the veterans group.
Another reason commissioners delayed the agreement and lease was to give the veterans group until March to determine whether it could find a different site for a museum – one that it might be able to buy and develop using the county’s funding commitment.
“Let them look and see if they can find a better property somewhere else – let them shop for a better deal,” Commissioner Frank Attkisson said. “My goal is to make sure the deal is right for the veterans.”
Commissioner Mike Harford said the relocation agreement “doesn’t quite give veterans a steering wheel to steer their own ship” in terms of being independent.
“We can do this better,” Harford said. “We can make a commitment to them to help them find their own home. We can possibly structure a deal for eight to 10 years to make them a master of their own destiny.”
Harford’s proposal would be for the county to fund both museum operating costs and capital spending over 10 years (a five-year period initially with a renewal option for five more years), at a cost of about $3.7 million.
Commissioner John Quiñones said he wants the museum to relocate to Osceola Heritage Park and that the sooner that happens, the better.
“You have a facility there (visitor’s bureau) that is adequate and is at the right place,” he said, adding that the relocation would improve the overall tourist appeal of the East U.S. Highway 192 corridor. “It is time they be given the opportunity to succeed at OHP – the sooner they can go there, the sooner the cycle begins of their standing on their own two feet.”
Quiñones also said the county needs a timeline for the relocation of the visitors bureau, adding that the bureau should have a satellite office somewhere easily accessible to tourists and that bureau administrative staff could be housed somewhere else – with the third floor of the county administration building at Courthouse Square a good location.
Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. also said he believes the veterans group would rather own its museum building and site. Hawkins initially wanted the $75,000 to come out of the $1.724 million commitment but in the end – with Harford pitching for the no-strings attached funding – voted to give the veterans the extra money.
Don Smith, chairman of the Veterans Tribute and Museum and the treasurer for the Osceola County Veterans Council, told commissioners that the two-year funding commitment was designed to help the museum “get on its feet” at OHP and that the veterans group is “happy with the deal” but that it would rather have its own building. He said that if an alternative site were not found, it would relocate to OHP as planned.
Smith also said the museum’s operating costs are $8,000 per month, that reserves are being used now to keep it afloat and that the museum is “desperate for money.”
More on agreement
Other details of the current museum agreement/lease include:
• Renovation costs at the visitors bureau would not exceed $700,000 during the current fiscal year.
• The county would provide up to $250,000 to the veterans group for startup and capital expenses.
•The county would cover museum operating costs for two years up to $125,000, split between fiscal year 2010-11 and 2011-12.
• The county would match up to $250,000 any money raised by the veterans group through Sept. 30, 2012.
• And the county would provide up to $274,000 in fiscal year 2011-12 for an expansion of the museum if the veterans group demonstrates that it has raised the remaining funds needed for the expansion. If needed, the veterans group would have until fiscal year 2016-17 to provide an expansion plan and the needed funding to be eligible for the county funding.
The agreement also would require the veterans group to provide certain activities or exhibits on a number of different days of the year, including Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Purple Heart Day, Patriots Day, POW/MIA Day, Veterans Day and Pearl Harbor Day. The veterans also would have to host an annual Military Appreciation Weekend.
In addition, the museum would have to coordinate free educational tours of the facility for students through the Osceola County School District and would have to work with Valencia Community College and the University of Central Florida to develop internship programs.
More on the lease
The county, as proposed, could cancel the museum lease with a year’s notice, without cause, giving the museum 120 days to relocate. The county also could terminate the lease by providing another space for the museum.
Maintenance of the interior part of the building, including heating and air-conditioning, would be the responsibility of the veterans group while the county would maintain the exterior of the building. The county also would cover utility costs for the facility.