[NHCOLL-L:3456] Milwaukee Public Museum

[Roberta Faul-Zeitler]

GREEN NEW UPDATE  5/23/07

Finley to launch plan to save Milwaukee Public Museum
Published May 17, 2007 - BizTimes Daily


Dan Finley, president of the Milwaukee Public Museum, is moving forward with
a plan to save the financially strapped museum. The plan will include
selling the naming rights of the museum to a private entity, Finley said.
The plan will be discussed by various interested parties on Monday, Finley
said.

Speaking at Leadership Series Breakfast at Concordia University in Mequon
today, Finley said the plan, if approved, will give the museum a solid
financial foundation for the future.

"I cannot reveal (the number), but if everyone gives, we will be fine,"
Finley said.

With the plan, the museum's debt of more than $40 million will not be
obliterated, but it will be diminished enough so that the museum could then
look for a benefactor to donate the rest that is needed, Finley said.

"The name of the Milwaukee Public Museum is for sale," Finley said. "We are
not going to make it on public money. What we need to do is restructure our
debt, get some paid off, hopefully get wonderful financing and a good donor,
and we will change the name of the museum to reflect the generosity of that
donor."

For the past six months, the museum board and executive management have met
with principal stakeholders, banks, Milwaukee County government officials,
philanthropists and representative of Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin to
discuss the museum's debt. 
"We needed a 'shared pain' proposal, where everyone gives a little bit,"
Finley said.

Milwaukee County has contributed by guaranteeing 10 years of funding to the
museum, he said.

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation recently offered a challenge grant of
$5 million to the museum, contingent upon the facility raising another $5
million from private donors, coming to an agreement with Milwaukee County
and museum bankers and negotiating new terms of its offer to purchase the
adjoining former Discovery World building.

The Milwaukee Public Museum's main focus will be on a capital campaign that
will be launched in June, Finley said.

"Then we will do nothing but think about the future, how we can contribute
to the community and do wonderful things," Finley said. 
Finley said the "St. Peter and The Vatican: Legacy of the Popes" traveling
exhibit that was at the museum from February to May of 2006 was a resounding
success, and the museum plans to focus to bring in more unique exhibits.

The Milwaukee Public Museum has already signed "Body Worlds" as a featured
exhibit next January. The popular traveling exhibit is the work of German
anatomy professor Gunther Von Hagen and features plastinated human corpses
and organs.

The museum has contract agreements pending for a traveling exhibit devoted
to the Titanic and the purchase of the bones of a wooly mammoth that were
found in a farmer's field in Kenosha. Finley said the bones will be on
display near the front of the museum. "We have other ideas for what the
museum can become, tied to the issues of today," Finley said. "The museum
has been a great repository. We have the resources to help us understand
where we have been and to find out where we want to go."

Some issues Finley mentioned he would like to tackle in exhibit form at the
Milwaukee Public Museum include immigration, global warming and guns in the
community. 

"We see ourselves as a sort of town hall for future issues," Finley said.

Finley's optimism stands in sharp contrast to the recent history of the
museum, when the facility fell short in revenues and the staff tapped into
the museum's endowment funds.

"The museum was literally within hours of bouncing payroll checks and going
into bankruptcy," Finley said. 

The museum's senior leadership was changed, and Terry Gaouette, former chief
financial officer, has since been charged with four felony counts, including
theft by officer and three counts of fraudulent writings.

Finley recalled that when he came aboard as president in 2005 after leaving
his post as Waukesha County Executive, his first week was grim.

"My first few days on the job, the chief financial officer kept coming to me
with more bad news," Finley said. "Like anybody else, I assumed this was a
remarkably solid institution. It has been an arduous process."

The museum was in even more debt than anyone had thought, causing Finley and
his management team to cut 42 percent of the museum staff, equating to about
100 employees. The museum currently has 150 employees, Finley said.

As a result of the cuts, the museum lost its curatorial strength and a few
academic people. It will be a while before the museum can afford to hire
back individuals of such stature. As a stopgap, Finley hopes to partner with
local colleges and universities for joint appointments.

END****************************************

Roberta Faul-Zeitler