St. Joseph City Commissioners have rejected an offer from the Curious Kids Museum to purchase its building at 415 Lake Boulevard on the bluff, but that doesn’t mean no sale will take place at all. At a Monday meeting, commissioners reviewed the museum’s offer of $140,000 for the city-owned Memorial Hall, which the museum leases. Commissioner Michael Sarola said Monday the offer is too little given the building’s value.
“I’m not opposed to selling the building,” Sarola said. “The offer that’s presented doesn’t make sense to me, and I think it would be irresponsible for the city to accept it.”
Sarola stressed he’s a supporter of the Curious Kids Museum, as are all the commissioners. However, a subgroup learned the market value of the building is as much as $1.4 million. Its appraised value with no lease is estimated at $482,000, while with a lease, it’s $140,000. Curious Kids Museum Director Lori Marciniak was disappointed in the commission’s decision.
“I totally understand their point, but I also understand that we really want to make the museum something spectacular,” Marciniak said. “Our donors don’t want to support it if we don’t own the building. Also, if we had pledges over several years, we would need the building as collateral to get short term financing to do it. So, it just feels like it’s been a very long time, a whole year, and we would really like to move forward and come to terms with the city.”
Commissioners told the subgroup to look at doing a full appraisal. They also want to explore the possibility of ownership reverting back to the city if the museum ever leaves the building. Marciniak said the museum will do everything it can to keep the Curious Kids Museum in downtown St. Joe and work with commissioners.
