Post by Logan on Feb 12, 2016 4:49:45 GMT -6
Frost science museum, in bid to end fiscal crunch, dismisses board
The Frost Museum of Science, under pressure as the institution seeks public help to finish its new downtown Miami home amid a severe budget crunch, on Wednesday dissolved its board of trustees and replaced its longtime co-chairs.
The sweeping move, which came in a board vote Wednesday morning, sets the stage for the Frost to receive a proposed $45 million grant from Miami-Dade County and a short-term loan from its principal benefactors to finish construction of its new $275 million home in downtown Miami’s Museum Park.
Initially taking the place of the 40 trustees is a four-person board consisting of Cesar Alvarez, senior chairman of the Greenberg Traurig mega-law firm; Phillip and Patricia Frost, the major contributors after whom the new museum is named; and Miami health-care entrepreneur Richard Pfenniger. Only Patricia Frost was already on the museum board; Alvarez had served in prior years.
The four will help recruit a new, smaller board with more fundraising firepower than the old one, said Michael Spring, special advisor to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. An inability to meet private fundraising goals was a key factor in the fiscal shortfall at the museum, which ran out of money for construction and was unable to get a bank loan to finish the job. Some critics have also said privately the old board was too large and unwieldy.
Read more here: www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article59589251.html
The Frost Museum of Science, under pressure as the institution seeks public help to finish its new downtown Miami home amid a severe budget crunch, on Wednesday dissolved its board of trustees and replaced its longtime co-chairs.
The sweeping move, which came in a board vote Wednesday morning, sets the stage for the Frost to receive a proposed $45 million grant from Miami-Dade County and a short-term loan from its principal benefactors to finish construction of its new $275 million home in downtown Miami’s Museum Park.
Initially taking the place of the 40 trustees is a four-person board consisting of Cesar Alvarez, senior chairman of the Greenberg Traurig mega-law firm; Phillip and Patricia Frost, the major contributors after whom the new museum is named; and Miami health-care entrepreneur Richard Pfenniger. Only Patricia Frost was already on the museum board; Alvarez had served in prior years.
The four will help recruit a new, smaller board with more fundraising firepower than the old one, said Michael Spring, special advisor to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. An inability to meet private fundraising goals was a key factor in the fiscal shortfall at the museum, which ran out of money for construction and was unable to get a bank loan to finish the job. Some critics have also said privately the old board was too large and unwieldy.
Read more here: www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article59589251.html