Road to museum takeover a bumpy ride

The Wheaton Park District's potential takeover of the DuPage County Historical Museum has gained a potential nemesis.

While the county board's development committee Tuesday gave its blessing for the proposal, board member Patrick O'Shea cast the lone vote against the idea.

O'Shea then predicted he won't be the only one voting against the proposal when it goes to the full county board next week.

The plan calls for the park district to vacate its main offices at Roosevelt Road and Main Street in Wheaton. That roughly 1-acre parcel could then become part of a redevelopment project that encompasses the existing Hubble Middle School site across the street.

As for the museum, the park district's administrative staff would move into the building in downtown Wheaton.

The part of the proposal that gets contentious is the money.

For starters, DuPage would pay 75 percent of the cost to put a new roof on the museum. The county also would continue to partially fund the museum operations and staffing by paying the park district $130,000 a year.

After five years, the county can renegotiate or terminate those payments based on the museum's self-sustainability at the time.

Still, O'Shea is concerned about the dollar figures. He said the price tag may be too high given recent budget discussions where some board members said they didn't want to give any money to the museum.

A not-for-profit association has been working for years to raise money to help the museum.

O'Shea said he believes the takeover would garner more support from county board members if some of the dollars raised by the association were used to help pay the county's expenses.

Park district officials and fans of the museum who attended Tuesday's meeting balked at that idea. They said a kickback to the county would have a "chilling effect" on fundraising. Donors may be less likely to give money to the museum if all of their contribution isn't spent on the museum.

"Then it may have a chilling effect on the board voting for it, too," countered O'Shea.

O'Shea also expressed concerns about the association's ability to raise money for the museum.

County staff acknowledged the association has done a poor job of fundraising in the past. The park district, however, is a proven fundraiser, staff said. Cosley Zoo is an example of a project that receives notable donations every year.

Wheaton Park District Executive Director Mike Benard said he's only looking for the county to provide a financial cushion for the first five years while the fundraising team probes for donors.

"I'm not looking for a windfall here," Benard said. "I'm looking to walk with the county and good government to save a cool building because, right now, it's not doing much of anything."

Wheaton Park District commissioners are slated to review the proposal tonight.

In the meantime, county board member Debra Olson expressed frustration that anyone would consider the proposal a bad idea.

"We have an opportunity here to partner with someone who actually wants to do the work and put the money toward it and help us with the fundraising and do everything that we, as a board, are not willing to do," Olson said. "So let's do it."

Olson said the county has never made money off the museum -- and doesn't need to.

"We are getting away virtually scot-free on this thing," she added. "I don't know why we want to make it more difficult to make that happen."

If the takeover is approved, the auditorium would be used for both museum and park district programs. But exhibits still would occupy most of the building and have countywide appeal.

A curator and educator would be hired by the park district to run the museum. The district also would establish the fees and hours of the museum.