After six months of research, an improvement project for Shawnee Town 1929 has an estimated price — $11 million.
The popular outdoor museum near Shawnee’s downtown core is planning to build six new structures as part of a large expansion project. City leaders are still looking for private fundraising opportunities to support the project before dipping into city finances to pay for it.
Last week, nonprofit consulting firm Kinetic Fundraising presented the total sum of the project to the Shawnee City Council, as well as a presentation on what the museum needs to accomplish before launching a capital campaign.
Fundraising will use a mix of donors and city money
The plan for the project includes raising $5 million through private donors and $6 million in money from the City of Shawnee during the next two to three years.
“It would need to be a partnership between the City of Shawnee and private philanthropy,” said Tammy Butterfield, senior vice president of Kinetic Fundraising.
The project includes building new structures for the historic attraction, including a new visitor center, a replacement chapel, and a block of four new town buildings.
The presentation was the result of six months of research
After the improvement plan was presented to city council in March, Kinetic spent the past six months conducting interviews and gathering feedback about Shawnee Town 1929.
Its surveys found people thought of it as a historic destination and important to the Shawnee’s history.
“[It’s] a ‘Hidden gem,’ ‘a cornerstone of Shawnee’ and ‘something we can all be proud of,'” Butterfield said, quoting some of the comments Kinetic Fundraising collected.
Before the campaign starts, recommendations were made
Kinetic offered a pre-campaign checklist that includes:
- Building donor relationships
- Prioritizing individual donor prospects
- Dedicating resources to campaign management
It was also noted that the City of Shawnee’s level of dedication to the campaign needed to be gauged before the campaign is launched.
“One of the things we heard a lot was ‘What’s the city going to do?'” Butterfield said. “Clearly, we don’t have answers to that because we’re just starting this journey.”
City council gave their feedback
Several councilmembers, including Mayor Michelle Distler, shared some positive comments about the project.
“I want more people to know about it and so, putting that Johnson Drive presence [with the visitor’s center] there is a huge priority for myself,” said Councilmember Jacklynn Walters.
However, councilmembers Tammy Thomas, Eric Jenkins and Tony Gillette balked at the $6 million price tag for the city.
“When we talk about the city’s part of it, the city will be maintaining it. So, is that not considered a donation?” Thomas said. “I think us biting off more than 50% of it, we need to kind of look at that.”
Jenkins agreed, citing his own concerns about the city’s level of financial commitment.
“That kind of startled me a little bit that it was that much from the city,” he said.
Some cost requests from the city council were made to Butterfield, such as a breakdown of what the city would be paying for and expenses for routine maintenance.
“I think the vision is there,” Gilette said. “I think you set out a good plan, and I’m excited to see how we can make this happen. I just think in difficult times, that $6 million, from the city’s standpoint, may be something we need to pause and maybe analyze a little deeper.”
The next step is a proposal
Butterfield said Kinetic Fundraising plans to return in January 2024, when the next city council is seated, to present and discuss a campaign proposal.
“You’ve got a lot of energy. You’ve got a lot of support. We just need to translate that to dollars,” Butterfield said.
Go deeper: 6 new buildings part of proposed Shawnee Town 1929 upgrade
