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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 12/05/2002 fie 72346 MINUTES ; JAN Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History �'i ;;: „ Advisory Committee Meeting N 'iY FFIVEL December 5, 2002 c+p OFflCFnR ;g pp � s The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum at Noon on Thursday, Decem.. ea.ip L2a.0 Members Present: Phyllis Riddle, Grady Price Blount, Shirley Abrams, and Tony Diaz. Upon motion by Phyllis Riddle and Seconded by Tony Diaz the minutes of the November 7, 2002 meeting were unanimously approved. Upon motion by Shirley Abrams and seconded by Grady Price Blount, the absence of Tony Diaz was unanimously excused for good cause. Election of Officers: Upon motion and second, Lynda Falconer was unanimously elected Chairman and Phyllis Riddle was unanimously elected Vice Chairman. Business: a. Rick Stryker reviewed a chart of Museum attendance over the past twelve years. Factors that influenced attendance during that period include a decline in attendance due to competition from the Aquarium and Lexington, peaks due to association with the Columbus ships, valleys due to the ships closing, and short term surges due to robotic animal exhibits. Attendance by local visitors initially declined when the admission fee was combined with that of the ships in 1995, but gradually recovered over the next several years. Tourist attendance declined as the Aquarium and Lexington siphoned off traffic, but surged when the ships became part of the tour. Attendance by all segments of the audience apparently bottomed out in Fiscal Year 2000/01. b. Revenue from admissions was not as volatile. When the ships closed, admission prices dropped but all revenue accrued to the Museum. When the Columbus ships were opened by the Museum, the fee split was reversed with the Museum taking the greater proportion. Earned revenue for the ships is mandated to cover operating costs. Museum admission fees under City Ordinance 36-6 "shall bear a reasonable relation to fees charged for admission to other similar attractions and similar facilities..." A chart was provided comparing Museum admission fees to local and statewide attractions. Some Jrtaior museums in the state have a base fee with incremental increases for Imax theaters and special exhibits, which makes their base fee artificially lower by comparison. The base admission price of both the Lexington and the Aquarium are higher than that of the Museum. In addition, the Lexington has incremental increases for the theater and other activities. It is assumed that the Aquarium will either increase its base admission price with the opening of Dolphin Bay exhibit in March or add an incremental fee. It was the consensus of those present that the Museum fees ought to increase to be more in line with those of the Lexington and Aquarium. This would also make the Museum admission cost comparable to the major museums in the State when their component fees are added together. Implementation of this change should coincide with a change in the Aquarium's admission price. Adopting a new fee schedule will be considered in January. There was a brief discussion of other fees charged by the Museum. A change in the fee SCANNED structure for facility rentals will also be considered in January. c. Texas A & M University—Kingsville will sponsor the Archaeological Field School that was formerly sponsored by TAMU-CC. d. St. Nicholas Day on Sunday, December 86 was attended by 661 people. Admission was free. The change from Tuesday night as in previous years to a Sunday afternoon seemed to improve attendance. The Museum hosted a Pow Wow sponsored by the Native American Student Association of Texas A& M University— Corpus Christi on Saturday November 23rd. Participants were given free admission. Use of the Museum seemed to be a positive experience for the Association and attendance was double the same day on the previous year. There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. 40 Q 2000 Attendance Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History Adults Children Adult Children School Senior Military Members Sat Presold/ Total 5-12 Education Under 5 Child Citizens Free Guest Promo. Jan 807 233 0 160 1422 642 76 348 42 341 256 4,327 Feb 1047 209 378 142 1780 932 74 1205 62 361 340 6.530 Mar 1848 772 549 312 2628 690 119 399 93 436 96 7,942 Apr 1470 391 773 212 4247 425 87 205 88 509 120 8527 May 1344 316 836 265 4143 325 102 158 49 475 66 8079 Jun 2043 942 342 367 1194 391 131 266 117 578 37 6,408 Jul 3252 1473 427 499 943 440 223 274 186 338 107 8.162 Aug 1536 622 100 303 131 231 113 224 99 310 20 3,689 Sep 1009 309 174 215 891 201 97 135 65 316 43 3,455 Oct 801 236 359 181 1550 256 60 152 65 317 102 4,079 Nov 712 205 385 121 1688 216 50 156 45 329 2 3,909 Dec 650 254 222 ' 142 873 188 66 181 27 341 91 3,035 16,519 5,962 4,545 2919 21.490 4.937 1,198 3703 938 4,651 1280 68,142 2001 Attendance Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History Adults Children Adull Children School Senior Military Members Sat Presoltll Total 5-12 Education Under 5 Child Citizens Free Guest Promo. Jan 702 216 316 136 911 519 53 254 66 408 179 3.760 Feb 866 185 580 134 1935 706 68 851 93 338 108 5,864 Mar 1867 810 644 279 2480 694 89 305 121 850 152 8291 Apr 936 276 822 160 2595 235 66 184 53 165 178 5570 May 1154 304 773 182 4483 347 147 179 1056 413 116 9,154 Jun 2223 1001 347 430 1470 542 159 257 65 345 330 7,169 Jul 3125 1468 189 498 689 502 290 308 44 357 553 8,023 Aug 1839 759 108 276 547 361 132 224 14 1119 347 5726 Sep 943 169 281 159 1494 255 57 145 5 410 184 4,102 Oct 891 219 437 144 2717 378 103 201 34 485 316 5,925 Nov 830 281 365 160 1928 31B 67 126 1 919 495 5.490 Dec 741 215 205 112 1060 235 88 194 14 221 83 3.168 16,117 5,903 5,067 2.670 22,309 5092 1,319 3,228 1585 6.030 3.041 72.342 2002 Attendance Corpus Christi Museum of Sdence and History Adults Children Adult Children School Senior Military Members Sat Presold/ Total 5-12 Education Under 5 Child Citizens Free Guest Promo. Jan 848 253 254 135 1096 645 65 281 2 707 37 4321 Feb 999 250 300 157 1523 962 74 480 3 1003 59 5810 Mar 2283 1047 539 347 2714 914 192 381 2 425 621 9,465 Apr 1116 267 647 180 3061 440 82 155 8 419 360 6735 May 1047 278 711 192 3571 327 125 182 15 1347 262 8057 Jun 2294 962 113 386 756 491 237 382 29 652 352 6,654 Jul 2729 1258 113 459 647 407 250 341 22 329 578 7.163 Aug 1863 696 120 319 381 335 180 378 19 459 232 4,785 Sep 1473 410 244 255 1053 199 78 226 33 517 285 4,773 Oct 715 189 410 132 2568 243 87 252 17 413 430 5.476 Nov 615 166 285 117 1256 211 91 223 22 1377 80 4,003 Dec • 540 168 147 55 724 168 69 142 9 1396 30 3.448 16.320 5,974 3,740 2.734 19,370 5,342 1530 3.423 181 7,648 3,296 67.683 Present Rate $9.00 $5.00 $7.00 $6.00 2002 $146,880 $24870 $37,394 $9,180 $223,324 Proposed Rate , $10.00 $5.50 $8.00 $8.00 2003' $163,200 $32,857 $42736 $12,240 $251,033 $16,320 $2987 $5,342 $3,060 $27,709