Musarium achieves important milestone

by Brian Ferry, Staff Writer, Times Observer

Feasibility study is next step

The Allegheny Musarium Association has taken another significant step along its road.

Last week, pledges to the association’s feasibility study fund surpassed the goal of $43,000.

The pledges were in amounts from $100 to a $25,000 contribution from the DeFrees Family Foundation.

"I want to personally thank the DeFrees Family Foundation and all the other donors... who made this feasibility study possible," association President Nancy Mooney said. "I want to especially thank Allegheny Coupling and Valve for pushing this over the top."

The study, to be done by ConsultEcon, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., is a huge step, Business Manager John Fitzgerald said.

"Now that we’ve got this feasibility study started, we can start with our major fund-raising," Mooney said. "It’s huge."

"We're going to go ahead with soliciting and interviewing professional fund-raisers," Fitzgerald said.

"ConsultEcon should be starting as early as next week", Mooney said. The contract calls for a finished product in eight to 12 weeks.

In the study, the firm will determine and evaluate the target markets and demographics, the revenue potential, strengths and weaknesses of the location, and an operating business plan, among other things.

The association is already moving along the path to its next step hiring a fund-raising organization. Fitzgerald put a target dollar amount of $250,000 for bringing a major firm to the project.

"That’s the next phase of our program," he said.

The fund-raiser will be in charge of finding the big investors that will eat away at the $70 million to $100 million estimated total price tag in time for an estimated opening date in 2011. At that price, the Musarium is not going to be funded by Warren County groups. "We’re just trying to raise $300,000 to $500,000 just one half of 1 percent locally", Fitzgerald said. Local groups have been generous so far.

A $5,000 contribution from Allegheny Valve and Coupling was the pledge that put the feasibility fund "over the top," Mooney said.

"We all wish the very best for the Musarium project," President Ray Heelan said. "We’ll continue to do our best to support it."

Dozens of individuals, businesses and foundations have made contributions over the past few years.

"The DeFrees Family Foundation was pleased to help fund the Allegheny Musarium’s feasibility study in the spirit of Joe DeFrees," Foundation President David Martin said. "I am personally pleased that a feasibility study... can now go forward to answer questions on this worthwhile project."

The association is not looking to the feasibility study through rose-colored glasses.

The officers said they expect to hear that the infrastructure of Warren County, particularly of the Starbrick area where the Musarium site is located, can not handle hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

"We plan to approach developers once they believe in the credibility of the project," he said. "Hotels, restaurants and other needed facilities will go up before the Musarium."

But they expect a positive outcome. "If we didn’t think this feasibility study was going to be at least warm, why waste the money?" Fitzgerald asked.

"The study is a major step to credibility," he said.

"What we’ve achieved with the feasibility study is people are going to want to jump on board," Mooney said.