Marion A&P commits $500k to Sultana

Marion A&P commits $500k to Sultana

Director: ‘ This is for everything you will need to build a museum in the future’

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion Advertising and Promotions Committee has agreed to put up $500,000 over the next five years towards construction of a permanent Sultana Museum and $115,000 over the next three years to operate the city’s current temporary museum.

The committee had originally promised $400,000 toward the effort, but agreed to increase the total by $100,000 in order to help the museum be able to match large pledges while it is raising money for construction.

“This is for everything you will need to build a museum in the future,” said Sultana Museum Director Dr. Louis Intres. “The $500,000 will be reserved and not actually taken out of the account or spent.

That money will be used to match contributions from third parties — whether it is a foundation grant, private philanthropy, or state government. The funds will not be spent unless we begin actual construction.”

The Sultana was a Mississippi River paddlewheel steamboat that exploded just north of Memphis in the early morning hours of April 27, 1865.

The boat was carrying over 2,000 Union soldiers — 1,100 of which perished — who were returning from the war and were crowded aboard. The sinking of the Sultana is the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history, but has been mostly forgotten.

The city opened a temporary museum on Washington Street in 2015 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the disaster and are planning to raise money to build a larger permanent museum. The remains of the boat are buried under a soybean field in Marion and many residents had ancestors who helped rescue survivors.

Intres was hired in January to help raise about $3 million to build a larger, permanent museum.

Intres said he went back over the minutes from previous A& P meetings dating back to 2013 to find out how much money had actually been pledged. He’s working on a promotional package that will be sent out to potential donors and needs a commitment in writing to show the city’s financial commitment to build the museum.

“There was some confusion about what had been committed and pledged in the past,” Intres said. “So I felt it was important for everybody’s understanding to get a written commitment from A& P going forward which we will use for matching grants.”

Intres said it was important to have it in writing because some grants require matching funds and they need to know the money is there.

He recently applied for a $750,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities but the grant required a 2 to 1 match and he didn’t have anything in writing to show as proof that the funds were available.

“It required that there be a matching amount of money already pledged, and we didn’t have a letter to go along with that,” Intres said. “In the future, with this signed letter from the committee that says the money is pledged, I can show them that letter that the money is set aside as a match. And rather than write a check, you can just make an accounting entry that this amount is reserved for construction in the future if our fundraising is successful.”

The city levies a one cent sales tax on all prepared foods sold in Marion. The “hamburger” tax generates about $200,000 a year and is used to fund local festivals, events, and marketing efforts aimed at promoting tourism in Marion.

A& P also formally approved $115,000 annually over the next three years for operational expenses for the museum.

“This is money that is actually spent,” Intres said.

“This is your investment in me and my services for work on behalf of the community. But it covers all of the operating and administrative expenses of the museum.”

A& P had originally pledged $55,000 annually over three years. The new total now includes Intres’s salary and money for travel and additional promotional expenses for fundraising.

“When we first proposed the museum I forecast the cost for rent and utilities and insurance at $55,000 to $60,000,” said Mayor Frank Fogleman. It’s panned out to be more like $45,000. Then we agreed to hire Louis and we estimated his salary and expenses at about $60,000. So that gives us the $115,000.

Louis has just brought this into a more current and more precise figure. The cost is no different than A& P had agreed to. This is just a cleaner affirmation of those costs.”

Intres said based on the contacts he had already made, there is a great deal of enthusiasm about the museum.

He added that it might be possible to easily raise $10 million for the museum and double the scope of what they had originally envisioned.

“I am extremely encouraged by the people we have contacted across the country,” Intres said. “All of these are people of wealth and influence stretching from Washington, DC to Hollywood. They are people who are used to doing big projects and are interested in history and have big sway. They are all saying this is a story that needs to be told and are on board and will assist us in making this a reality.”

Councilman David Bigger, who chairs A& P, said he is glad to see the project moving forward.

“I’m encouraged just hearing that,” Bigger said. “I’ve been on board from day one with the Sultana and the history and all the other exhibits and things that a museum can bring to Marion.”

Intres thanked the members for their continuing

support. “I very much appreciate the commitment,” Intres

said. “This is something we are working on every day.”

By Mark Randall