“We sincerely regret that after many months of good faith discussions working with the Trust we weren’t able to reach an agreement,” she said. “We were hoping for a smooth transition.”
Faced with having to hand NPS the keys to a museum full of privately-owned planes and displays, the Trust elected to move its contents to another location.
Strahan said that the Park Service’s demands made a new agreement virtually impossible to reach. Among other changes, NPS’ proposed new agreement would have required:
• The transfer of ownership and management of the Trust’s collections and exhibits to the NPS
• NPS would prohibit the Trust from entering into sub-agreements with education partners
• NPS approval of all events inside and outside the museum complex through individual special use permits with specific criteria for approvals
For many businesses and nonprofits throughout the community, it was the Trust’s role at Pearson Air Museum that made it such an attractive event space.
“The Trust was great to work with,” noted Beaches Restaurant and Bar owner Mark Matthias. “They maintained that facility and really worked with the community to book events.”
Beaches Restaurant has catered a number of events at the museum over the years, and Matthias wondered how the Park Service will be able to provide the same level of support that he received from the Trust.
To that concern, Fortmann pointed out that NPS is no stranger to handling events and issuing special use permits.
While that may be the case, Strahan said, the Park Service simply isn’t built to operate as an event producer. Conversely, he said, the Trust was able to provide service before, during and after an event.
“They (NPS) will issue you a permit for the space, but they provide no logistical assistance or amenities to execute the event,” Strahan explained. “They don’t own tables, chairs, a sound system and the other kinds of things you would expect to be provided as an event producer, much less setting them up and taking them down.”
According to Ashley Raisanen, event facilities coordinator for the Trust, logistical support isn’t the only thing the community will lose out on at Pearson Air Museum without their involvement. She said the Trust offered a standard 30-percent discount to nonprofit organizations that booked that space.
The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes (NWABA) most recently utilized that discount, holding their annual fundraiser at the museum just days before its closure.
“Keeping your event costs under control is absolutely huge in terms of making a successful event,” said Billy Henry, NWABA executive director. “Having events there, not only were we offered the nonprofit discount, we were able to bring in a caterer who was able to give us a substantial discount from what we would be paying at a hotel. We also got a lot of other services donated in-kind that would not be possible without having an open event space like Pearson.”
Henry said his organization is already planning to move their fundraiser to a hotel next year.
“Unfortunately, [moving to a hotel] is going to raise our costs significantly,” he said. “Of course, that’s assuming that Pearson is going to be in the same situation it’s currently in. If something were to change we would go back.”
107 events were held at Pearson Air Museum last year, grossing approximately $90,000.
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