Spokane7
30°
November 22, 2009 in Opinion
No derailing science center
A meeting of a Park Board subcommittee this week created an inaccurate perception of the Mobius Science Center project. Members of the board suggested Mobius is asking for sweeping changes to the pending lease the two parties have been working on for months. This is not the case. More importantly, this meeting led to a perception that the project may be faltering. Also untrue.
Regardless of whether a successful agreement can be reached with the Park Board, the plan to build a science center is alive and well. We may build it in a different location, but we remain 100 percent committed to creating this educational asset for the youth of our region.
The changes to the lease mentioned in the subcommittee meeting had been previously discussed and the vast majority of the lease is unchanged from that approved by the Park Board in August. The environmental cleanup language required revision because the August lease stated that the technical surveys of the site and its associated cleanup had been completed and that Mobius was satisfied with the findings. However, this work had not yet been completed by the city and there were no findings to review.
Language was added to state that these studies were in process and the city has recently initiated a more comprehensive environmental study of the potential contamination of its property. Mobius recently discovered a parking easement existed that had not been disclosed, necessitating a revision to our parking plan, business plan and the lease language. Mobius also requested revision of the language allowing the use of tax credits for funding, similar to The Fox and YMCA, and this was written in cooperation with the city attorney’s office. Several other minor “housekeeping” changes were also suggested.
The draft lease (available online at www.mobiusspokane. org/science) spells out the terms of the proposed relationship between the city and Mobius. It covers many topics, but a few important aspects include:
•The city leases the land for 50 years to Mobius for $12,500 a year. The city owns the land.
•Mobius raises all money to build and operate the science center. Mobius alone bears the liability for any operating losses. If Mobius fails, the building reverts to city ownership. The city could sell or re-lease the building.
•The lease allows Mobius to sublease property to other tenants, with city approval. Because nonprofit science centers don’t cover costs through admissions alone, this revenue would help support operating costs. Any subleasing will always be an ancillary part of the project, as science education and programming remains our central mission.
•The city will perform “initial remedial work” as it applies to existing hazardous substances, or pollution, for the property to qualify for DOE approval. This would need to be done for any use of the property.
But more important than any lease is the idea behind creating a world class science center. This is an idea that has been alive in our community for years because of what it would mean to our youths. A science center is a place where young people get exposed to new ideas, experiences and career possibilities.
The history of the idea of a science center on the north bank goes back a decade. In 1999, a Park Board-run planning and community input process revealed a science center was the public’s top choice for the use of the north bank property. Because the city had no funds to support the science center, it issued a request for proposal in 2002 to select an independent science center operator. Mobius was selected.
Mobius has been working to raise private and state funds to build the science center. Having a private nonprofit take the responsibility, and the liability, for operating a science center is viewed by many as a win-win. It would enable the city to fulfill the public’s vision for the use of the north bank.
Mobius Spokane is a nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors. We are a group of both current and retired business people, physicians, community volunteers and educators. Mobius Spokane operates Mobius Kids in River Park Square, which provides young children with fun, hands-on educational opportunities and averages over 65,000 visitors a year.
The proposed Mobius Science Center will build on this success, providing youths ages 8 and up with fun and educational experiences designed to engage them in learning. This past summer, MobiusLab at NorthTown provided visitors with a sneak peek of the science center. We received great feedback from some 10,000 visitors.
Many good questions have been raised this week as a result of media coverage. You can e-mail us through links at www.mobiusspokane. org/science with questions or comments. As we make decisions about whether to pursue collaboration with the city or build elsewhere, we welcome the community’s perspective.
Neil K. Worrall is president of Mobius Spokane.
Romney’s ‘focus’ often blurred 
Enter to win tickets to see Adam Carolla at the Knitting Factory 
WSU Text-to-Win Contest 
EWU Text-to-Win Contest 
johnclarke on November 22 at 9:09 a.m.
If memory serves, didn’t the public vote NO on a science center back in 1995? So, in 1999 a park bond passes and the science center idea returns….magically. Now, 10 years after the bond someone (ah-hem) wants commercial development included. Hey wait, what if the CITY owns and operates a parking structure as part of this deal after it buys back it’s own land ? Or wait, maybe we could lease the land for practically nothing and “attract commercial development…” Hello, this is PARK LAND. Not development land.
Listen, kids could really care less about a “science center” (how many times will a kid want to go in a year?) and I don’t see the benefit of relocating any of the current attractions like the ice rink. What should happen is an improvement of the existing facilities like the IMAX and the other rides etc. Kids love that stuff, and it brings people to the center of the park. We approved a park bond. Spend it on the park.
Ron_the_Cop on November 22 at 1:19 p.m.
OK the S-R is managing the news again. Here’s a letter to the editor that the S-R refuses to run from Jock Swanstrom who with Steve Corker were successful in putting the Pacific Science Center to a vote in 1995. The voters rejected this project then. And now it’s back again in a different form:
“MOBIUS PARK LAND LEASE IS A HEIST
Mr. Jim Camden left out some important facts about the MOBIUS Project Group draft lease. Voters rejected this science center project over a decade ago. The proponents spent over $150,000 campaigning for it and still lost. It was the most expensive single campaign in Spokane history. Why was it defeated?
Science centers lose money. My research estimates $1.5 million in red ink annually for the Spokane Science center. The proposed fifty-year lease at $l per year also allows for subleasing to other parties. This lease confers valuable parkland to a group that will have no financial responsibility when it fails. Who will pick up the tab? Not MOBIUS. It will leave the taxpayers with their debt. Sound familiar?
This doomed to fail project may mimic the Riverpark Square Parking Garage fiasco that is costing the tax payers around $100 million bucks.
The unelected Park Board approved this lease. City Council members will now review this draft lease agreement. This is a heist of public property with no recourse. “Halt before default” is the cry. Demand the City Council put this to a public vote.”
If you would like the alternative views/opinions you can read more here where I link to award winning investigative reporter Tim Connor’s report hosted at the Center for Justice. Connor attended this Park Board Meeting too. His account differs from S-R Reporter Brunt’s account:
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/?p=185
Ron_the_Cop on November 22 at 8:37 p.m.
Folks also should read Section 48 of the Spokane City Charter and decide if this MOBIUS Project can be done without bringing it to a vote of the people.
http://www.spokanecity.org/services/documents/charter/#Sec48
“…Nor shall either the park board or the city council, after January 1, 1982, have the power to allow the use of any part of Riverfront Park then or thereafter dedicated to park purposes by sale, lease, rent, permit, license, or other assignment for permanent commercial purposes without the prior approval of the City voters given by a majority vote in a regular municipal election. Permanent commercial purposes shall not include commercial activities existing prior to January 1, 1982, nor any activities operated directly by the City of Spokane or the park board for fee, nor any activity not having a fixed location, nor shall it include any activities approved by the park board not to exceed thirty days and renewable for periods not exceeding thirty days.”
Rifleman__Dodd on November 23 at 12:52 a.m.
Mobius is just like its name. A go no go piece of paper where its a two fold path of lies, smoke, mirrors and vested interests that just ends up where it started. The tax payers pocket book.
Why dont we just call it River Park Square 2.0? or Washington Mutual on the River? We could have the double sets of secret books again. Remember this monstrocity will not have a single bit of transparency. Not a snip, not a tidbit. NONE. Where the money comes from and where the money goes will all be a big secret run by the consortium of 17 greedy ignorant money grabbers.
They cant even meet the bar that the City council set for this project, so what do they do? They lower the bar.
Instead of a Science Center, why dont we just have a menagerie instead. Oh silly me,we have that …it happens every monday night around 6 pm and theres no admission albeit the evil hot tempered Shotgun Joe does lash out most often at citizens alike. (He’s even driven away the homeless people whom were just looking for a warm place and some free entertainment).
I’m not against a Science Center…I’m against this one, one that will suck the life out of Spokane faster than a starved vampire on a hemophiliac. This plan was DOA even 10 years ago and it hasn’t had a heart transplant since then either.
They had a chance for a science center during Exploit 74 but blew that also. The Pacific Science Center has more money problems than Berney Madoff and is just propped up with the Bill Gates/Paul Allen Defribulator and Blood transfusion clinic.
The good thing about commercial enterprises is that they have this thing known as profit and efficiency, things that the Betsy Cowles Science Center doesn’t and cant do.
oh and by the way..where’s the parking lot?
Ron_the_Cop on November 23 at 7:07 a.m.
Tim Connor of the Center for Justice has a follow-up article regarding Mr. Worall’s guest editorial in Sunday’s OP/ED page:
“An epilogue to last week’s Mobius malfunction at the Park Board again shows how the Cowles family uses its newspaper to decide whose voice gets center stage in Spokane, and who has to yell from the cheap seats.”
http://cforjustice.org/2009/11/22/that-was-quick/