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Museum given help from city

By MELANIE AVE
Published March 4, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - The City Council agreed on Thursday to alter its lease with Great Explorations to help the children's science museum through financial difficulties.

Council members voted to allow the museum, located in the Sunken Gardens complex, to take three years to pay back $40,766 it owes the city, and to give up $96,444 in fees and an unknown share of income over those three years.

Despite a good attendance, the museum is struggling with debt.

The museum owes about $1-million of the $3.5-million it took to renovate the building's interior when it moved to Sunken Gardens. It raised about $2-million privately and borrowed the remaining $1.5-million.

As part of the changed lease with the city, the museum will have its own cashier instead of sharing one with Sunken Gardens.

At the end of three years, the museum will resume paying its monthly capital fee and start paying monthly rent of 2 percent of its gross income.

City officials also will explore whether it can allow the museum to stay open one hour later, until 5:30 p.m., without taking up too much parking space from neighboring Carrabba's Italian Grill.

The museum, which is a nonprofit, was founded in 1987 by the Junior League of St. Petersburg and Hands On! Inc. It moved from a Fourth Street S building to the Pier in 1998 and to Sunken Gardens in March 2003 with all new exhibits. Last year, about 112,000 people visited the museum.

[Last modified March 4, 2005, 00:30:22]