Hey Bill,
If the gift horse doesn&#039;t have teeth, and is not of any use, the glue factory will still give good money for it. I agree we need some sort of control over this issue, to what extent I am not yet decided. I do feel a separate entity should be formed, as this has implications to become a potential liability. That does in no way mean it is bad, on the contrary, it appears to be beneficial. To further explain, this museum will be open to the public, which creates the potential for liability, with a separation, we reduce our liability by about half. I am just more comfortable with the idea of insulating HPOCA to some extent from the museum. The museum in my opinion should be formed as a foundation, under the control and supervision of HPOCA. But, it should be a self supporting organization.
I neither support or don&#039;t support the idea of locating to another place. It is just too early to tell, we need more input to make an informed decision. Two things I do support, the will of the members must be done, and whatever is the most beneficial to our association. From what I have seen, to the present time I believe this would be the Oliver plant location. It is my opinion that restoration funding for the historic building would be easier to come by than funding to build a new building. I have looked into some of this, and there are numerous federal agencies that have programs made to fit this project. One small program that not too many people know about is any building on the register of historic places is a good candidate to apply for a joint grant to the EPA and Dept. of Energy. This is for a custom designed HVAC system that is computer controlled, fuel efficient, and has very low emissions. There are numerous programs such as this out there, just takes some hunting. Whereas to build new, we would need to look more to private funding. HPOCA is not in any position to take on the funding of a museum, so, it is my opinion that any private funding we can get would be better allocated to an endowment fund. We have and will run into problems on this project, but that doesn&#039;t mean it is not feasible. It is very feasible, we just need to determine the best route to follow. I feel there will be considerable progress made in Wentzville.
We had flood here in West Virginia last week, now there is snow, how is Virginia faring?
I&#039;ll see all Y&#039;all in Wentzville, Mo- March, 28-29, 2003
Later, Andy