February 20, 2009
Sports Museum 'voted to cease operations' - NY Times
Although the Sports Museum of America’s website is kaput and their phone system is still limited to a looped recording — “As of February 20 at 6 p.m., the museum will be closed until further notice” — the New York Times this morning managed to get a telephone interview with Philip Schwalb, the founder and chief executive of the nine-month-old museum.
“The board of directors voted to cease operations last night but I’m hoping it’s not the end,” he told the Times.
The paper also notes that the $93 million for-profit museum “suspended payments late last year on $57 million in tax-free Liberty Bonds, which were designed to assist an economic rebound in Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
For the past six weeks, the board of directors has been trying to sell the museum for $10 million, Schwalb told the paper.
The museum opened in May across from the Charging Bull statue in a building constructed in 1921 for the Cunard passenger ship line. It’s located at 26 Broadway at the corner of Beaver Street. (Unfortunately, Google Maps pegs this address in the middle of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.)
Update: The museum was “on track to draw 125,000 visitors, well below pre-opening projections of one million,” according to an updated version of the Times story.
Earlier: Sports Museum of America closing ‘until further notice’
Sports Museum $10 Hail Mary for Super Bowl Weekend
Sports Museum cuts entry to $16, cites bad economy
New downtown Sports Museum sets $27 admission
Sports Museum of America sets April ‘08 debut for NYC
National Sports Museum to open downtown
February 20, 2009 11:54 AM in Downtown, Kids, Museums, Sightsology, Sports
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