Officials of Port Discovery continue to pursue moving the financially strapped children's museum to the Columbus Center's long vacant Hall of Exploration, but delays in completing the deal have caused them to start thinking about several alternatives.
They are looking at other Inner Harbor locations and are even considering staying where they are.
There have been some discussions with the Maryland Science Center, which is in the midst of a $40 million renovation and expansion, and the Visionary Art Museum on Key Highway, according to Douglas L. Becker, chairman and chief executive of Sylvan Learning Systems Inc. and chairman of the Port Discovery board. Becker said the board also is considering a plan that would allow Port Discovery to remain at its current Market Place home but under a different economic model.
"We're on a path to move the museum to the Columbus Center, but we're listening to any other idea that's presented," Becker said yesterday. "My thinking is that until the day that we sign a lease obligating us to move, we have a responsibility to look at all other options."
A member of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents, which owns the Columbus Center, said the board has started actively soliciting other tenants because of the delay in completing a deal.
"It is less than crystal clear as to whether this deal will ultimately get consummated," said David H. Nevins, chairman of the regents' finance committee. "Because it hasn't yet been resolved, we feel that the prudent thing to do is to simultaneously seek other proposals, which we are now open to and are aggressively pursuing."
Port Discovery reached an agreement in July with the Board of Regents to move to the Hall of Exploration, a $147 million marine biotechnology exhibit that closed months after it opened in 1997.
Initial plans called for Port Discovery to close at its current home, the former Fishmarket entertainment complex, by the end of the year and reopen in the Hall of Exploration next spring. But finding a tenant for its 80,000-square-foot current space, doing design work and securing necessary approvals have taken longer than anticipated, Becker said.
"There's no part of it that isn't going well," Becker said. "Nobody is really dragging their feet. ... The whole process has been a lot slower than we would have liked."
Becker declined to discuss any scenario under which Port Discovery might remain at its current location.
Port Discovery's planned move is part of an effort to shore up finances at the $32 million museum, which has experienced declining attendance and layoffs while operating at a deficit.
Talks with the Science Center have not progressed sufficiently to identify available space or to estimate costs, Becker said.
"It's an interesting idea," Gregory P. Andorfer, executive director of the Science Center, said yesterday. "It's very preliminary, and we really have had only a couple discussions about it."
The talks occurred in the past three or four weeks, he said.
"We may have a few more discussions, and we'll see what happens with that," he said. "You'd have to look at how we'd complement each other and not compete. It's just a nascent idea. ... There have been museums that have partnered across the country. Some have been very successful."
The Science Center laid off eight employees Nov. 22, citing budget constraints due to the poor economy. Attendance during some summer weekends was down as much as 30 percent, a Science Center official said this week.
Becker said he considers the Science Center to be in good shape, nevertheless.
"I am not at all concerned about them being able to pull off their expansion or anything else," he said.
A possible move to the Visionary Art Museum also has not been discussed in detail, Becker said.
"Rebecca [Hoffberger, the museum's founder and director] is very interested in expanding the focus that they have at the Visionary Art Museum toward children," Becker said. "If for some reason, our plan was canceled for the Columbus Center, would I engage in more discussions? Absolutely."
Hoffberger said she approached Becker shortly after news of Port Discovery's pending move became public.
"When I saw that he was open to a move, I just said, 'Is there a possibility that, instead of moving across the street, you'd be interested in a collaboration in conjunction with our expansion?"' she said. "It really has not gone far beyond that."
That art museum expansion will consist of 27,000 square feet of space inside and an additional 9,000 square feet outside, she said.
Part of the delay in completing a deal for the Columbus Center has been the time it is taking to firm up a tenant for Port Discovery's existing building. The museum leases that space from the city for $1 a year, with 95 years remaining.
At first, Port Discovery officials had said that they would be willing to move without having a tenant. But, at some point during the process, University of Maryland officials said they would not want to take the credit risk unless Port Discovery had a tenant for its space, Becker said.
"What we will require of them is evidence that they could pay the new lease," Nevins said yesterday. "The easiest way for them to demonstrate that, given what we know about their finances, is to have a brand-new revenue stream from a tenant."
It costs an estimated $500,000 to $700,000 to maintain the Hall of Exploration, even vacant, Nevins said. So the University of Maryland would want to recoup at least that amount through its lease, he said. Nevins said he remains "cautiously optimistic" that a lease with Port Discovery will be signed.
Both the Baltimore public school system and the Cordish Co., developer of the Power Plant Live entertainment district that surrounds Port Discovery's current building, remain interested in the space.
The school system has a one-year lease for about 6,000 square feet in the museum, where it operates a specialized high school called the National Academy Foundation School for Finance, Tourism and Technology. About 90 ninth-graders occupy five classrooms there.