Chattanooga History Center gives up on Riverfront building & heading to library instead

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The History Center project has been over budget and behind schedule to open a new facility next to the Tennessee Aquarium.

Now their officers have decided they will not be able to open after all.

And they will move to the Chattanooga Library instead.

Here is the letter sent to the media on Thursday to explain what is and isn’t happening.

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On January 29, the Times Free Press published a story concerning the History Center and its current situation with its capital campaign. We would like to provide additional information to clarify and avoid further confusion.
Ms. Edwards’ article maintains that “the Center’s website states it still has more than $10 million in funds”. This is obviously not the case; the website graph refers to the total amount raised, not the amount now in hand.
Despite the fact that our capital campaign was launched during the Great Recession and at the time of a major shift in Chattanooga’s philanthropic landscape, we were able to exceed the original goal through the generous donations and pledges of our community and ongoing fundraising efforts.
By the end of 2015, the Center has spent $9,088,000 on acquiring and retrofitting a building on Aquarium Plaza; constructing a third floor HVAC-controlled area to protect and house the collection itself of nearly 30,000 artifacts and documents; and producing interactive multimedia media exhibits and display cabinets/areas for the museum.
In addition, the Center spent $2,203,000 to fund the Center’s operations during the construction period, including utilities, insurance, interest on its debt, property taxes and maintenance (25%), salaries (30%), and fundraising and marketing (15%). The remainder was spent for audit, legal, accounting and bank fees; office supplies; collection-related costs; and other miscellaneous expenses.
During this time, our small dedicated staff consistently performed at a high level in a very professional way while receiving compensation at the lower end of the range for their positions. They continued to catalog the collection, develop and conduct educational programs with our local schools, and assist in continuing marketing efforts.
In January 2014, the Center realized it still needed $2.3 million to complete the contract with our designers, Ralph Appelbaum Associates. Even though RAA generously held to their original contract price despite the construction delays, the capital campaign struggled to raise the necessary funds to complete the project.
Since then, the Center has explored a variety of options to complete the project. At first, the Center explored financing the remaining project costs, including payment of the mortgage held by River City. Unfortunately, this effort fell through, after months of hard work from a consortium of lenders, primarily due to having no operational income history.
The Center next attempted to find a buyer for the building that would engage in a sale-leaseback transaction, but this effort was also unsuccessful.
Despite these challenges, the Center and its supporters remained committed to our mission of connecting visitors to the past, present, and future. This is why we are exploring the option of moving the History Center collection to the downtown Public Library. We are pursuing various sources of funding, and to the extent finances allow, we will mount an exhibit reflective of the creative insights and original vision of the Chattanooga History Center. This will bring additional tourists as well as local citizens, students, and teachers to better understand our cherished heritage.
We are indebted to River City Company and its board, for the numerous accommodations they offered us during the past three years. Working with River City, we have a plan in place to preserve the Aquarium Plaza location and ensure that an occupant appropriate for our community is located there.
Unfortunately, it will not be the Chattanooga History Center.
Jo Coke
CHC President
Carl Henderson
CHC Treasurer