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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 06/11/2009 . w RECEIVED JUL 31 2009 MINUTES CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History Advisory Committee Meeting June 11, 2009 The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room at Noon on Thursday, June 11, 2009. Members Present: GG Gasaway,Jonda Holcomb, Kimberly Harris, Tom Kimes, Shannon Madden, Jim Moloney,Nelida Ortiz, Luci Sosa, and Linda Tomo. Upon motion by Tom Kimes and seconded by Linda Tomo, the minutes of the April 2, 2009 meeting were approved as presented. Upon motion by Linda Tomo and seconded by Luci Sosa, the Committee unanimously excused the absences of GG Gasaway and Kimberly Harris. Business: a.JoAnne Gilbertson presented the Beachwalk concept. Beachwalk is intended to brand the entire bayfront area as a destination for marketing purposes. The intent is to tie together the downtown attractions and amenities. For purposes of marketing, the Beachwalk would extend from the north end of Corpus Christi Beach through the Watergarden and then along the seawall - with the Water Taxi as a link across the ship channel. This would overlap with the Bay Trail which starts at the Art Museum and continues along Shoreline Blvd. and Ocean Drive. Rick Stryker provided Committee Members with the previous destination marketing concept for the same area which was presented to the City Council in 2006. Although the CVB provided leadership in the development of that concept, they never followed through with marketing the area. Under their current business plan, CVB marketing efforts are heavily weighted toward the Lexington Museum and the Aquarium. Mr. Stryker suggested that the real issue was whether the City Council will give clear direction to the CVB to market the cultural amenities in the Bayfront area under any destination concept. Upon motion by Jim Moloney and seconded by Tom Kimes the Committee unanimously endorsed the Beachwalk concept and recommended that the City Council adopt the Beachwalk/Bay Trail concept as the Corpus Christi bayfront destination marketing concept and direct the CVB to begin to utilize it as a unifying concept to promote tourism on behalf of all cultural entities downtown and on Corpus Christi Beach. b. Rick Stryker reviewed the June 10ih update memo on the Columbus ships that the City Manager asked that he prepare for the City Council. To make new Council members aware of recent events, the memo included considerable background information. Copies of this memo were provided to Advisory Committee members. At the June 2nd retreat of the new City Council, members were asked to identify their priorities based on the six categories identified as part of the Bold Future community wide initiative. One SCANNED ` V topic proposed for consideration in the Thriving Education and Entertainment category was "Reinvent the museum& Columbus ships". However, none of the proposed topics in that category were identified as Council priorities and there were no votes for that particular topic. Chairman Nelida Ortiz reminded Committee members that, at their request, she had presented a letter to the Council one year ago and made a plea on behalf of the Columbus ships during the public comment portion of a Council meeting. The Mayor's written response informed the Committee that the City did not have the funds to maintain the ships. Since that time the condition of the ships has deteriorated further, but the Consul General for Spain in Houston had intervened to encourage the City to participate in a collaborative strategy to repair Nina. She urged Committee members to advocate for the ships and suggested that they speak to individual Council members. She also led a discussion about the role that the Advisory Committee might play in fund raising—an activity that is presently not within the scope of their responsibility. She suggested that members might want to get involved with the Columbus Sailing Association and support their efforts. Upon motion by Jim Moloney, and seconded by Linda Tomo the Committee unanimously called upon the Chairman to write another letter to the Mayor and Council: o reminding the City Council that the ships are an important cultural heritage and tourism asset belonging to the City and, o reiterating the fact that the ships are deteriorating rapidly with Santa Maria projecting a negative image to tourists visiting the Museum and Nina projecting a negative image to tourists visiting the Marina, o requesting that the City Council fund ship maintenance sufficiently to fix them taking into consideration the Consul General's generous assistance,however, o considering as one option the relocation of Nina to the shipyard adjacent to the Museum to focus efforts for repairs and maintenance in one place, or o dispose of them if a solution to their care and maintenance cannot be found. c. Staff reports o May attendance hit a record low due to school visit cancellations resulting from the swine flu outbreak o The Earth from Space exhibit will be installed in the Museum in July in time for the opening of the Voyage exhibit scheduled for July 18`h o The Archeology Field School extends through June and July in Old San Patricio o A new logo was shared with the Advisory Committee o Daily experience enhancement programming started June 9th and will continue through the summer months. o The World of Water celebration was postponed from May 16 to June 13`h. d. Upon motion by Linda Tomo and seconded by Tom Kimes the Committee unanimously voted to cancel the regular July meeting due to its proximity to the Independence Day holiday. A special meeting will be called should that become necessary. The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.