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The final countdown is on to save the cash-strapped astronaut attractions.
©Associated Press
September 16, 2002
TITUSVILLE -- Fourteen kids in sky-blue flight suits recently earned their wings from U.S. Space Camp Florida after five days of building rockets and spinning in simulators.
There was room for 276 would-be astronauts.
Months and even years of low attendance have left Space Camp officials and the adjacent U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame museum on the verge of closing.
Financial problems have forced the attractions into foreclosure, and unless someone comes to the rescue, the property will be auctioned to the highest bidder Sept. 25 at the Brevard County Courthouse in Viera.
"There are people out there who want to help us financially, and I'm still very hopeful," said Mary Merritt, director of Space Camp Florida.
SouthTrust Bank in Birmingham, Ala., which holds the mortgage on the properties, is negotiating with at least two companies interested in buying the attractions and keeping them open, according to Merritt.
Merritt won't release attendance figures for the camp or museum, both private, not-for-profit attractions that opened in 1988 and 1990 near Kennedy Space Center.
Space Camp in Mountain View, Calif., closed its doors Jan. 6 because of financial problems. The flagship U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., also has fallen on hard times -- although it has started recovering in the past year.
Merritt insists the public's interest in space is still strong and places most of the blame on poor advertising.
Space Camp was born in Huntsville 20 years ago. It was an immediate success, even inspiring a feature film by the same name about campers accidentally launched in the space shuttle.