CALAIS (AP) – The Downeast Heritage Museum, which opened in 2004 amid the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the St. Croix Island settlement, faces an uncertain future as it struggles to raise money to remain afloat.

The museum, which showcases the cultural heritage of easternmost Maine, needs between $200,000 and $400,000 in operating capital to survive.

“(We) do not have the funds to open the museum (in the spring) and the (board of directors) may have some difficult decisions to make in the near future,” Jim Porter, the board’s president, told a group of stakeholders last week.

The Downeast Heritage Center filed for bankruptcy protection two years ago to relieve some $3.2 million in debt, most of it to the federal agency that helped finance the museum’s opening. The museum continued to operate under Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a judge last year signed off on a reorganization plan to allow the museum to emerge from bankruptcy.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, agreed to write down the museum’s debt from $3.2 million to $600,000, which translated to a drop in its annual mortgage payment from roughly $218,000 to $30,000, but the money woes have continued.

“We have been particularly hobbled by an inability to finance marketing or program development,” said Jim Thompson, the museum’s executive director. “I think we have been very successful in operating a series of very modest programs on a shoestring, but they aren’t the kinds of programs that would attract a large corporation or an individual or foundation to support.”

Predictions that the St. Croix Island celebration would draw 400,000 people to the area during the summer of 2004 failed to pan out, board member Charlie McAlpin said. The flood of tourists turned out to be barely a trickle.

During the construction phase, a federal agency promised $1 million to help the museum with operating costs over five years, but then had its budget cut.

“Construction was under way by that point,” McAlpin said, “and we were obligated to finish by June 2004, or the (building) steering committee would probably have put the project on hold.”

After a visit to the museum, Gov. John Baldacci two years ago helped provide it with some state money.

“He was impressed with what he saw of the museum and said in front of witnesses he would not allow the museum to close,” Thompson said. “He managed to grant us $300,000 in emergency funds and we are still running on the fumes of that grant.”

The board has been exploring various options, including a transfer of ownership or long-term lease to an entity that shared the same goals as the museum. Among the suggestions at the stakeholders meeting was a partnership with companies such as L.L. Bean or Cabela’s to see if they might be interested in using space in the museum.

Porter said the directors were open to suggestions and added the directors would be looking at ways to solve the museum’s financial woes over the next few weeks.

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On the Net: http://www.downeastheritage.org

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-02-11-08 1045EST

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