Gee, I hope the new proposed History Museum for the Big Dig Greenway will turn out less cheesy than it looks in the sketches. If not, I fear it could go the way of Dreams of Freedom.
But the accompanying article is what has me a little concerned:
The unusual Boston Museum Project…would fulfill seemingly conflicting desires for a landmark cultural structure, but one that does not sever the city’s planned linear parks, said Anne D. Emerson, president of the five-year-old Boston Museum Project.
The group has raised $2 million in planning money but will need an estimated $89 million more to build a four-level, 163,000-square-foot history and learning center….
Emerson acknowledged that raising money for such an ambitious project would be challenging. She said it would take five years, with an opening date about eight years away.
But Emerson said her group’s business plan projects between 500,000 and 662,000 visitors a year, an annual budget of about $13 million, and 165 full-time employees. ‘’This is totally do-able,” she said.
OK, maybe $89 million isn’t an awful lot for a city and economy the size of Boston. But this is not the only museum undergoing major capital campaigns. The MFA’s campaign to fund physical expansion and collections acquisitions seems from the outside at least to be on track. And it’s quite possible that the new North End YMCA will be funded by the city chapters’ health club business. But from all indications, the Massachusetts Horticular Society has just scratched the fundraising necessary for its planned Greenway botanical garden (Steve Bailey reports $2M out of $70M raised). And how is the ICA doing on its $60M capital campaign for the new waterfront museum?
Clearly I don’t have the inside scoop on any of these capital campaigns, but I can’t help wondering how deep philanthropy pockets run. Even if Boston is more generous than other cities, too many institutions seem to be chasing too few dollars. And now that the mergers of Fleet and John Hancock have taken away major givers, the business community may be unable to take up the slack.
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