| Author | Message | ||
     Skippy |
It seems really funny to me that Falling attendence rates keep being cited as the reason to close the Aquarium. Another Detroit Destination, The Charles Wright African American Building only had about 30,000 go through it's doors in 2003 and it wasn't shuttered. We all know it cost more than 500,00 to maintain that. | ||
| Anonymous |
Apples and oranges, Skip. The Belle Isle Aquarium is part of the municipal operation - the CHW Museum of African American History is not a city of detroit agency. If the aquarium were owned and operated by a non-City agency, it wouldn't be nearly so affected by their budget cuts | ||
| Jan Anderson |
The African American Museum is funded by the City of Detroit though it's director is not appointed by the Mayor. The nondepartmental account shows a $1.3 million operating subsidy for it in 2004-05, and some $35 million in general obligation bond funds have gone into it in the last decade. | ||
| Michael Bartlett (Mike) |
To imply that money has been distributed in an unfair way is to play the role of victom. Furthermore, that sentiment is not likely to endeer anyone to the cause of saving the aquarium. Skippy, I am in no position to turn aside anyone's good intentions, and I definitely appreciate that you want to help here, but it is probably best for us if we set that aside as an unrelated issue. I'm not a victom. This problem can and will be solved as soon as we figure out how. I am looking at some possibilities, but I can't share much yet since I don't want to build hope around promises I can't definitely deliver. The very fact that you speak up though is a solid leadership trait. We are going to need folks like you when the time comes. | ||
| Anonymous |
Kagen was recently mysteriously fired as head of the Detroit Zoological Society, which has one of the worse efficiency tracks record in the country (That means after expenses, like his $40K salary on top of his $140K zoo director salary, there is little left to pass onto the real cause). There should be an investigation into how he handled funds donated to the Aquarium via the Detroit Zoological Society that were earmarked for the Aquarium. Where did those funds go? His silence on this is deafening. Meanwhile, he has already started to dismantle the Aquarium. The Sea Horses are gone. Does this sound like someone who we can rely upon for support? KAGEN HAS GOT TO GO! | ||
| Anonymous |
Let's face the facts. Belle Isle and the Detroit Zoo are expensive to operate and maintain. These "jewels" are enjoyed by the regional community. Rather than continue to burden Detroit with these expenses, Detroit, the southeastern communities, counties and the state should enter into discussions to explore making these two truly priceless assets regionally owned and operated similar to a metro park authority. |
