Consultant offers Sultana Museum feasibility stats

Consultant offers Sultana Museum feasibility stats

Mayor ‘ There is some good news … and there are some challenges’

news@theeveningtimes.com A permanent museum about the Sultana steamboat disaster could attract as many as 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a year to Marion but will still need to come up with about $135,000 a year in outside funding to support itself.

Those were the conclusions of Bill Owens of Owens Economics who was hired by the city to do a market and feasibility study to help determine whether Marion should proceed with plans to build the museum.

Owens presented his findings and went over attendance projections and the costs associated to operate the museum.

“What I was hired to do was provide you some tools so that you fully understand the implications of moving forward with this concept of a Sultana Disaster Museum in terms of attendance and in terms of financial performance,” Owens said. “What my work does not do is make the determination of whether it is a good museum or whether you should do this. My job is to give you some quantitative tools as you move forward in considering this project.”

The Sultana was a Mississippi River paddlewheel steamboat that exploded about seven miles north of Memphis in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865. Over 1,700 people were killed in the disaster — mostly Union soldiers who were former prisoners of war and were returning home from the war. The sinking of the Sultana is the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history. More people died in the Sultana than died on the Titanic which sunk in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.

Many early residents in Marion helped rescue survivors.

The remains of the boat are buried in a soybean field in Marion.

The city opened a small museum last year on Washington Street to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the disaster and is proposing to build a permanent museum next to the Woolfolk Library.

The Haizlip Firm, which has been hired by the city to come up with a design plan, is proposing a 10,000 square foot building which will cost about $2.8 million.

The Marion Advertising and Promotions Commission, which oversees the money collected from the city’s one cent tax on prepared foods, has agreed to spend $400,000 to help build the museum and another $75,000 a year to help defray operating expenses over the next ten years.

Owens was in Marion in May and met with the Haizlip Firm as well as Mayor Frank Fogleman, members of the museum board, Marion Chamber of Commerce, and tourism officials in Memphis to examine the market for a museum in Marion.

Owens said although Memphis isn’t a big Civil War destination, the Sultana story is a powerful one and would appeal to many segments of the public.

“Number one is that the Sultana story is a strong story for a museum,” Owens said. “It is multi-dimensional meaning that there is a lot of different elements that can appeal to different market segments.

There is a fascination with disasters. And it is a story that deserves to be told.”

Owens said Memphis will be the major source of visitors to the museum and its proximity to the city and two major interstates is a major boost.

Although Memphis is a competitive market and visitors come mostly for the food and entertainment, he estimates that 20,000 visitors a year will come from Memphis, 10,000 from Civil War tourists; and 5,000 from the local market.

Memphis gets about 10.5 million visitors annually who stay on average 2.7 nights. International visitors stay for three to four nights.

Owens also said the proposed location in Marion is a good one because it is only half-amile from the Interstate and is close to hotels and restaurants. “If you had to pick a spot in Marion for a museum, this would be the location,” Owens said.

After analyzing comparable themed museums such as the Johnstown Flood Museum in Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in the upper peninsula in Michigan, The Civil War Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Georgia, Owens said the proposed Sultana museum would cost about $513,633 to operate.

That includes five full-time employees and three part-time employees.

According to his figures, the museum would generate about $377,855 annually in income from admissions, membership fees, special events and the museum store.

That would leave about $135,778 a year that would have to come from outside sources.

The good news however, is that the income from the Sultana museum will cover about 74 percent of its operating expenses, which is well above the 30 to 34 percent norm for most museums, according to Owens.

“Museums as a rule do not make money,” Owens said.

“This museum will follow that pattern. But most museums have operating gaps and find a way to close that gap through contributions, grants, and sponsorships. I think that level of deficit seems manageable.”

Dr. Ruth Hawkins, executive director of Arkansas Delta Byways, a 15-county tourism association, said the results of the study are what she expected.

Hawkins was responsible for the development of the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Museum in Dyess, Southern Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza, Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum in Piggott and others for Arkansas State University.

“I think they line up with the feasibility study we did for the Johnny Cash house,” Hawkins said.

The Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Museum gets about 20,000 visitors a year.

Roz O’Neal, who volunteers at the temporary Sultana museum, said she was also pleased with the study.

“I think he did a great job,” O’Neal said. “I think he has given us a very good road map. We’ll just have to come up with a way to raise the money. But I think we will end up with a world class museum.”

Mayor Frank Fogleman said the report contains a lot of information to think about.

“There is some good news in there. And there are some challenges,” Fogleman said.

Fogleman said he would like to see one more study on the economic impact the museum will have on the local economy before he asks the city to move forward with the project and commit funds.

By Mark Randall