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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 09/08/2011 RECEIVED MINUTES SEP 3 0 2011 Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History Advisory Committee Meeting CITY SECRETARY,SOFFICE September 8, 2011 The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room at Noon on Thursday, September 8, 2011. Members Present: Tom Kimes, Shannon Madden, Scott Sutherland, Luci Sosa, and Linda Tomo. - Upon motion by Scott Sutherland and seconded by Shannon Madden the minutes of the August 4, 2011 regular meeting were approved as presented. - Upon motion by Shannon Madden and seconded by Linda Tomo the absence of Scott Sutherland was excused for good cause. Business: 1. Ashley Higson, Marketing Manager for Hurricane Alley, gave a presentation on the new waterpark currently under development on Port Avenue directly across from the Museum. It will open in the spring on weekends and the daily schedule will extend from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The 2.5-acre park will include a six-story slide, racing slides, a lazy river, wave pool and concession areas. The children's pool area will have misting palm trees, a replica of an aircraft carrier ship and Coast Guard ships where children can play. The entrance to the park will be near Whataburger Field's Kieschnick's Corner. Tickets for a single-day admission will be$24.95, but group rates, season tickets will be offered. The discussion following the presentation suggested that cooperative marketing would be desirable and there would be an overlapping concern for parking(there is a charge for their parking lot). Two issues the waterpark has in common with the Museum are concerns about the adequacy of street signage and potential traffic control issues. Rick Stryker suggested that the issues facing the Museum included whether the Museum's summer hours should be modified to include evening hours after the waterpark closes at 6 p.m. in order to complement the service plan of that attraction. The Friends had a special summer discounted membership opportunity this past summer and will likely consider a similar package next summer to complement the waterpark's season pass. Other alternative business plan issues should also be discussed including incorporating food service at the Museum. If this comes to fruition, outsourcing both food service and gift shop sales to a vendor might make good business sense. The Museum will also have to take advantage of the line of sight provided from the waterpark. Improving the visibility of the Museum with a large banner on the front marquee and perhaps other improved venue signage is needed. 2. Charlie Cardenas, City Traffic Engineer,gave a presentation on planned improvements in traffic control, parking, and signage in the S.E.A. District. The improvements in the process of being completed are intended to address very large events, but will also make it better for Museum visitors on normal days. Chaparral was re-coated and restriped to SCANNED facilitate traffic flow. Soon the newly redone Port Ave. will support traffic needs of the area. Directional signage for parking lots will be installed and street parking restricted on side streets where traffic blockages were common. Mr. Cardenas offered to return to the next meeting to share with the committee plans for venue signage improvements that should help visitors to the Museum and other venues. There are many issues with current signage and improvements are needed prior to opening Hurricane Alley which is projected to be quite a traffic generator. 3. Rick Stryker provided copies of a revised SWOT analysis that was recently reviewed by the Friends Board. Since there were changes in the order but not the content of the SWOT elements, he did not suggest that the Advisory Committee revisit it. He then presented the Conceptual Plan slides and script used by Ralph Appelbaum in 2007 to the City Council - modified to remove sections that addressed inclusion of the Columbus ships and removing sections that included the construction of a new building. He reminded Committee members that this proposal was only the most audacious of many options made necessary and possible(from a funding perspective)by inclusion of the ships. The Museum's mission and the conceptual plan could be expanded to include the ships, but were in no way dependent upon including them for validity. The conceptual plan is equally as valid today as it was in 2007. The open architectural design of the current museum facilities is adequate to house the exhibits conceptualized in the plan. This places the Museum(Friends) in position to move on to the design development phase of the project. The next step is to hire an exhibit design firm to develop the exhibit concepts and prepare a budget and phasing options. That can then be used to enter into a capital fund drive to implement the project. 4. Staff Reports a. Ashley Henderson made a short presentation on the recently completed La Belle collection storage project funded by the Texas Historical Commission and the Friends of the Museum. b. Rick gave a brief recounting on our participation in Artwalk, a free after hours event sponsored by the Downtown Management District. On the first Friday in July we had 49 people, in August 87, and in September 36. We will continue to participate on months where it makes sense to participate. The meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m.