Children’s Museum Reaches Out
Refinancing and budget cuts
give new director room for partnerships
(12/04/2008) Last summer, when the overall economy still appeared somewhat healthy, the Children’s Museum of the East End was firing warning shots that some agencies and nonprofits might be in trouble.
Finding it difficult to make payments on a $4 million mortgage for the 12,000-square-foot facility on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, the museum announced that it needed $500,000 to continue operations beyond the summer.
Subsequently, Bridgehampton National Bank, which wrote the loan for the museum, agreed to a refinancing and lowered the museum’s monthly payments.
“We’re less perilous than we were last summer,” said Steve Long, the museum’s director, who took the helm in the midst of its financial crisis. He added that moving from last year’s $1.7 million budget to a $1 million one this year ought to be sufficient to ensure the museum’s viability. Previously, 25 percent of the museum’s revenues have been raised by its operation; the goal is to raise that to 40 percent.
“I’m confident that CMEE will be surviving,” Mr. Long said. A capital campaign will be launched in late 2009 to pay off the mortgage on the property, and then the museum plans to begin an endowment campaign.
The bulk of the organization’s support has come from foundation grants, government support, donations, and benefits since the museum opened in 2005. With support from all these sources expected to shrink, Mr. Long came to the Bridgehampton Citizens Advisory Committee on Nov. 25 to see how the institution could better serve the community.
“I’ve been in my position for four months and have met with a lot of parents and community members,” he said, “to get a sense of what we could do as a museum to fill community needs.”
One idea would be to use part of the museum’s property for a Southampton Town-sponsored playground, which is much needed in the Bridgehampton area.
Since his arrival, Mr. Long said, the museum has been reviewing its goals and coming up with a business plan. “We’re doing market research and communicating with other institutions and we’re getting a sense of who our audience is,” he said.
When CMEE was first founded in 1999, a feasibility study cited children from 2 to 12 as its core users. “We are not currently serving those children,” Mr. Long said. “Our size is too small to serve 2 to 12 and it’s too big to serve toddlers and pre-K to grades one and two.”
To that end, the museum is exploring how to join forces with other nearby cultural institutions. Mr. Long said he wanted the residents’ input on compatible partnerships and asked for volunteers to help review the business plan he was developing.
“I’m interested in people with business experience,” he said, adding that having a transparent process with full participation would produce long-term benefits.
Many of the residents and committee members present thought that the museum needed to be promoted more. “I’ve lived here full time for 12 years and I don’t know or hear about your facility,” Steve Steinberg said. “I pass by you all the time. I used to be on the board of directors of the child care center. I should know.”
“I only visited you a couple of times and I’m at a loss as to how it benefits the community,” said Fred Cammann, the chairman of the advisory committee. “I don’t know if it benefits the community as much as it should.”
According to Mr. Long, the museum received 40,000 visitors last year from 36 different states and four different countries. The number of visitors “increases exponentially in the summer,” as is typical on the South Fork.
“I expect to have a draft of the business plan in January,” he said, adding that he would share it with the group and visit again to gather feedback.