Author Topic: US Space & Rocket Center (Huntsville) / Space Camp in financial difficulty (Read 2023 times)

wolfpack · « **on:** 07/29/2020 05:42 pm »

It seems the US Space and Rocket Center (Space Camp) is on the edge of financial collapse. They have started a GoFundMe page to save it. This is a charity. No one (especially not me) is making any money.

https://charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/savespacecamp

Mods: please merge if there's another thread. I searched but didn't find one.

Coastal Ron · « **Reply #1 on:** 07/29/2020 10:41 pm »

Yelp has found that "...permanent closures now accounting for 55% of all closed businesses since March 1...", and now that is affecting museums too.

Just last week the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) released a new survey showing that 12,000 museums in the U.S. may close permanently.

Now there is word that the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama, home to a Saturn V rocket, may be one of the museums that will be forced to close permanently:

Alabama's US Space & Rocket Center may close forever unless it raises $1.5 million in the next 3 months - CNN

Relevant quote:

Quote

The museum in Huntsville, Alabama, which houses the legendary Saturn V rocket, is usually the state's top paid tourist attraction. But since the pandemic began, it has lost two-thirds of its revenue, according to a news release.

Lots of heritage at risk here...

SpaceNerd26 · « **Reply #2 on:** 07/30/2020 12:07 am »

[Opinion] BLUF: I believe this is low threat. As a resident of Hsv and recent visitor of the Intuitive Planetarium on the Space and Rocket Center campus, I have high confidence a combination of local industry and the public will take care of the center. They are struggling and likely will continue to for the remainder of the pandemic. With that said, the Aerospace-Defense industry has taken care of the Hsv and neighboring Redstone Arsenal community as of late with multiple renovation/fundraising projects. Another potential player which certainly has political motives, as Alabama mulls a lottery, is the Band of Poarch Creek Indians. They funded some renovations to Gate 9 at Redstone and always look for political gain. Even if all of the business players stood down on funding the requirement, the public has plenty of capital lying around and the willingness to use it. [Opinion]

Coastal Ron · « **Reply #3 on:** 07/30/2020 12:55 am »

Quote from: SpaceNerd26 on 07/30/2020 12:07 am

[Opinion] BLUF: I believe this is low threat. As a resident of Hsv and recent visitor of the Intuitive Planetarium on the Space and Rocket Center campus, I have high confidence a combination of local industry and the public will take care of the center.

Pre-pandemic, sure, that would be the likely scenario. But when the local community as a whole is also under stress (see the Yelp study), and major international companies like Boeing, that would have stepped up in the past, are seeing their revenue fall by 25%, there is less money to tap into.

But there are still plenty of rich people, since the stock market is so far unaffected by the pandemic (for now, not likely to last much longer).

Who knows, maybe Jeff Bezos would want to have a second aerospace museum that he supports, and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is only 4 miles away from the new Blue Origin engine factory in Huntsville, so he'd be supporting his (new) local community...

wolfpack · « **Reply #4 on:** 07/30/2020 01:45 am »

I just donated $50. They are 1/3rd of the way to the $1.5M goal after just one day.

Let’s hope this works!

libra · « **Reply #5 on:** 07/30/2020 12:00 pm »

That's a total heartbreak...

wolfpack · « **Reply #6 on:** 07/31/2020 10:55 pm »

Boeing just gave $500k. Hats off to them!

hartspace · « **Reply #7 on:** 08/01/2020 12:19 am »

Just kicked in $50. They're at $1.1M after 3 days. Hopefully they'll get the rest in the next few days.

texas_space · « **Reply #8 on:** 08/02/2020 05:10 pm »

Sad to hear. After having attended Space Camp/Academy in the mid-1990s, it was a wonderful experience and memory. Hope they can make it out of this.

hektor · « **Reply #9 on:** 08/02/2020 05:15 pm »

Is there a deadline for this fundraising ?

Khadgars · « **Reply #10 on:** 08/02/2020 05:25 pm »

I went to their space camp back when I was 14 years old (early 90s). Seeing the Saturn V in-person changed me forever, great to see they are well on their way to reaching the goal

hartspace · « **Reply #11 on:** 08/04/2020 09:56 pm »

They've made it to (and exceeded) their initial $1.5M fundraising goal! Big boost from Boeing ($500K) and SAIC ($250K).

SpaceNerd26 · « **Reply #12 on:** 08/04/2020 10:10 pm »

FYSA Space and Rocket Center in HSV met their fundraising goal today of $1.5M to keep the center and space camp online.

https://www.waff.com/2020/08/04/us-space-rocket-center-reaches-fundraising-goal/?fbclid=IwAR0_sXRaxrO48dIRcG0dxmlYaKjcLBz4LCKSEF4S3YUIvKVCrbJnumkPIGo

AS_501 · « **Reply #13 on:** 08/04/2020 10:39 pm »

Good news for now. If the center did close someday, wonder what would happen to the outdoor artifacts, especially the Saturns and the Shuttle stack. Scary to think these could be torn down.

Blackstar · « **Reply #14 on:** 08/05/2020 12:21 am »

It is not going to close. It has received significant earmarked money in the past; it will receive significant earmarked money in the future. Senator Shelby will see to that.