SPAR ousting museum, renting to printer as city subsidy ends

[thelakelander]

Springfield Heritage Education Center closes doors Sunday

By Alison Trinidad, The Times-Union

Because of budget cuts, the Springfield Preservation and Restoration Council Inc. is kicking out a community museum to incubate a fledgling printing business in its North Main Street building.

The nonprofit council, which aims to revitalize, preserve and restore the historic Jacksonville neighborhood, is negotiating with the startup business to rent the museum's space at below-market rates. The council needs the rental revenue to help offset a city subsidy that it will not receive in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.

Final lease agreements are expected to be signed by the end of this week, said council Executive Director Louise DeSpain, whose position is unpaid.

The volunteer-run Springfield Heritage Education Center will be open daily until Sunday so that its exhibit items are dismantled by July 31; unless someone steps up with affordable space, the center probably will not reopen elsewhere anytime soon, said Rita Reagan, the center's president and a former board member of SPAR Council. Reagan said the printer is scheduled to take its space Aug. 15, pending final paperwork. If the deal with the printing business were to fall through, however, it is unlikely that the education center would return. SPAR Council would continue to market the space as available rental space.

"This is a very necessary financial step," DeSpain said. "[But] it won't fill the gap. We'll still need other sources of income."

full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071907/bus_185403847.shtml

[downtownparks]

I am personally hoping to see her open up somewhere better. I think that she has the right idea and some great materials, its just the wrong location, and SPAR badly needs the revenue to be able to continue serving the community in the way we do.