Funding request not child’s play
Posted Jan 12, 2010 01:59:14 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Children’s Museum of Waterloo Region is at a crossroads.
CEO David Marskell says it either continues on its current path, attracting exhibits like Jane Goodall or Andy Warhol, or it reverts to being a place exclusively for kids.
But in describing the success of recent high profile events, Marskell says it seems clear the museum needs to evolve.
And to do that, it needs sustainability funding.
The appeals began in Kitchener last night, where council was asked for $300,000 in funding (the Children’s Museum is in downtown Kitchener).
The regional government will be asked for the same level of support while Waterloo will be asked for $50,000 and Cambridge $25,000.
Marskell says this level of funding would ensure sustainability for the museum, adding that it’s being requested now because private pledges that helped the museum launch in 2003 have now ended.
Marskell tells 570 News the request is not out of character for a municipal museum.
He says the funding model of such institutions is most often one third through earned revenue, one third through donations and fundraising and the final third from local governments.
Marskell says the museum’s revenue has doubled in the past two years.
He says the museum not only attracts people to downtown Kitchener, it also attracts visitors from outside the region.
Marskell insists the museum is not crying wolf with its request, asking for $675,000 but secretly hoping and accepting anything less.
He says the funding requested is the real number that will sustain the museum and allow it to grow.
Without, he adds, the museum would have to scale back its offerings. The “Our Body: The Universe Within” exhibit opens at the museum tomorrow.
