OKPOP Museum new home

[ComeOnBenjals]

Good deal on the funding match. Hopefully private fundraising isn't too much of a hurdle.

[shavethewhales]

So it sounds like the House decided not to even vote on this, so they never got the final approval despite passing the senate. So OKPOP is dead in the water again... Very frustrating. How many years will the building sit in limbo before they come up with a plan?

[SXSW]

So it sounds like the House decided not to even vote on this, so they never got the final approval despite passing the senate. So OKPOP is dead in the water again... Very frustrating. How many years will the building sit in limbo before they come up with a plan?

I think they will need a private benefactor/foundation to step in and assist.  Similar to how the FAM in OKC was ultimately finished and built out.

[shavethewhales]

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/officials-moving-forward-with-okpop-completion-with-new-legal-advice/article_3a6beeea-0eeb-11ee-b8d2-db2bb889774a.html

Sounds like they will keep going with fundraising, under the expectation that the state will still come through. Still say having to spend nearly $40 million to complete a museum that is already built is insane.

It also sounds like they will be fundraising through next year, so the earliest I would expect the place to finally open would be 2026?

[ComeOnBenjals]

I agree. Unless I'm missing something, 40 million seems incredibly high. The building is not even that large.

[shavethewhales]

In a few days SB1155 will take effect, raising half the money OKPOP says it needs to finish the Museum. https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/north-tulsas-been-under-resourced-affordable-housing-project-to-break-ground

No idea how they are fundraising the $18 million they need to get privately to unlock those matching funds, but at least there is movement in the right direction. I assume they have a plan...

Best case, this museum finally opens in 2027, a mere 7 years after construction of the building finished.

[Jacobei]

https://tulsaworld.com/life-entertainment/local/art-theater/staff-layoffs-strike-okpop-museum/article_bb189f96-3d45-11ef-82cb-b771d733de0f.html

This stinks. I know a few of the folks affected. That was a serious hotbed of local talent. I get the feeling the state torpedoed us again.

[shavethewhales]

According to Blake Ewing (take that for what you will) the main issue is that the funding they have received so far does not cover salaries for the current staff efforts regarding acquisitions, marketing, etc. So those people have to be let go until the museum is fully funded and ready to move forward.

The state has been trying to bait local philanthropists into paying for this museum instead of using state funds like the big museums in OKC. Since we got the Gathering Place I guess they figure Tulsa can hold its own and they can just keep all the money in OKC.

It sounds like they are reasonably confident they can get $18 million in local matching funds, so at least this thing has a chance of moving forward next year...

[Red Arrow]

The state has been trying to bait local philanthropists into paying for this museum instead of using state funds like the big museums in OKC. Since we got the Gathering Place I guess they figure Tulsa can hold its own and they can just keep all the money in OKC.

This might be easier to accept if the museums (etc) around OKC also had to get 50% of their funding from private sources.