Fundraising lagging for science center

A plan to build a science museum at Riverfront Park is facing renewed scrutiny after the nonprofit group raising money for the project missed a May fundraising deadline by more than $3 million.

The deadline for Mobius Spokane to collect $14 million was set in 2006 by the Spokane Park Board. The resolution approved by the board said Mobius’ lease of parkland on the north bank of the Spokane River would be invalidated if the goal wasn’t met. The north bank property off Washington Street is where Mobius had hoped to open a science center in 2010.

Park officials have been meeting with Mobius leaders to determine if the fundraising deadline will be extended.

“Whether that’s sufficient cause to pull the plug or recalibrate, that’s a question that’s up in the air,” said Park Board member Steve McNutt. “There is probably a continuum of opinions on this from frustration to tolerance. I kind of move back and forth.”

McNutt noted, however, that park department surveys indicate that a science center is a popular option for the city’s north bank property.

Further, he said, there may not be harm in extending the timeline because there isn’t a backup plan on the table.

Board member Ron Rector said it appears Mobius’ 2006 fundraising goals were overly ambitious.

“They’re on the right track at this point,” Rector said. “I think the general feeling on the Park Board is we want them to make it.”

The goals were set after Mobius took three years to develop its business plan – two years longer than anticipated when the science center lease was approved in 2003, according to a previous Spokesman-Review article.

Mobius Spokane has raised $10.7 million for the $33 million center, said Robyn Tucker, Mobius campaign counsel. About two-thirds of that was given by private donors. The state has pitched in $3.4 million.

This year’s goal is the second of four set for fundraising. Mobius was to raise $4 million by May 2007, $14 million by this month and $26 million by May 2009, at which point construction could begin.

The rest would have to be raised before the center could open in 2010.

Rector said Mobius’ ability to raise more than $10 million in two years is impressive, especially compared to other recent large fundraising projects that also have taken longer than expected.

“We took forever on the (Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture), but look what we got out of it,” Rector said.

“We took forever on the Fox, but look what we got out of it.”

Rector said Mobius leaders are scheduled next week to present Park Board members with “what they think is a realistic” fundraising plan.

The proposed $33 million science center would have 45,000 square feet and a new IMAX theater.

Besides raising money for the science center, Mobius Spokane also runs Mobius Kids, a children’s museum at River Park Square. Current plans call for the children’s museum to remain a separate entity at the mall, said Mary Tyrie, executive director of Mobius Kids.

If the center is built, the mission of Mobius Kids wouldn’t change much, though it would allow Mobius Kids to focus more closely on younger kids because older children would be attracted to the center, Tyrie said.

Even though the organization didn’t meet the targets it agreed to in 2006, Tucker said Mobius’ goals “are not specific to a dollar amount.”

“We feel that we are meeting the fundraising goals for the benchmarks we have set internally,” Tucker said. “The truth of the matter is we’ve had significant successes.”

Jim Karel, president of the Mobius board, said many private donors are giving in hopes of improving science and math education.

“The science center product is resonating extraordinarily well,” Karel said. “

It’s not infrequently that we get comments that this is a great project and the time is now.”