Sports Museum in New York is closed!!

[suave1477]

WOW im so dissapointed I have been wanting to go but havent had a chance too. It was only open about 8 months.

Has anyone here had a chance to go?


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By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: February 20, 2009
The Sports Museum of America, which opened near Wall Street in May with high expectations and the sight of stars such as Eli Manning and Walt Frazier waving red foam fingers, shut down after business on Friday.
“The board of directors voted to cease operations last night,” said Philip Schwalb, the 25,000-square-foot museum’s founder and a board member, “but I’m hoping it’s not the end.”
The $93 million, for-profit museum, at 26 Broadway, had exclusive relationships with more than 60 sports halls of fame and other organizations, and was home to the Heisman Trophy and the Billie Jean King International Women’s Sports Center.
The museum suspended payments late last year on $57 million in tax-free Liberty Bonds, which were designed to assist an economic rebound in Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Another $36 million in private money was raised.
The museum was on track to draw 125,000 visitors, well below preopening projections of one million. Schwalb said the museum could have survived with 275,000. Over the past year it cut its top ticket price from $27 to $16 and laid off employees.
He insisted that the recession was far less a problem than a $6 million construction cost overrun that forced the museum to severely cut marketing. He said an ill-conceived ad campaign resulted in “95 percent of residents of New York City never hearing of us.”
Schwalb said that for the past six weeks, after efforts to restructure the bond debt failed, the board tried to sell the museum for $10 million, one-tenth of the total cost of the venture, including seed money that was invested earlier.
He said the deal now being offered potential buyers is an 85 percent stake in the museum, with the rest retained by the original equity investors. He said he would prefer that the old investors retain 25 percent. Schwalb was the original chief executive, but the board asked him to surrender the role last year.
Unsuccessful acquisition talks were held, he said, with Magic Johnson Enterprises and a small group of the original investors.
“I think we’ll have to sell within about three weeks,” said Schwalb. “The concept is still strong and the subject matter is as compelling as the Museum of Arts and Design in Columbus Circle, and it’s not in the middle of Times Square, either.” The arts and design museum opened last September.
David Warburg, the lead lawyer of the unsuccessful effort to restructure the museum’s debt, said the museum will probably liquidate its assets and return memorabilia to their owners. He said that Schwalb “never appeared with any investor that was concrete and, quite frankly, he didn’t do much to advance things.”
Schwalb’s plan from its earliest conception was to create a Smithsonian-like museum of sports that would be more central to fans and tourists than individual sports halls of fame.
He believes the site, near the World Trade Center and where tourists head to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, is as viable as the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum at 12th Avenue and 46th Street, or the popular Bodies exhibition at the South Street Seaport. But the museum was hamstrung by not being in a stand-alone building; it is inside the old Standard Oil building and lacks the exterior signage that would define it as a major attraction.
The museum’s demise is likely to make the Heisman Trophy an orphan again. The Downtown Athletic Club, its longtime former home, shut its doors in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. A large gallery in the museum is devoted to the Heisman and its history.
Bill Dockery, president of the Heisman Trophy Trust, said: “We’re disappointed and find it unfortunate that the traffic flow didn’t allow the museum to continue as it was expected. A new buyer would be fine if they treat the Heisman with integrity. I know Philip had his heart in this, and I’m sure this is taking a lot out of him.”

[spartakid]

I had the oppertunity to go, it was really well done. They had some great pieces. They had a Christy Matthewson game used glove, a Gehrig Jersey, stuff like that. Definitely a shame.....

[jv225]

I would agree with the lack of advertising. I live in upstate NY and this is the first I've heard of it.

[emann]

Same here, I go to NYC a few times a year on business and never knew it existed. Bummed I didn't know it was there, I would have gone...