Corpus Christi Museum of Science & History reopens amid dispute

The Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History reopens this month for the first time since suffering damages from Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 25, 2017. School field trips resumed in late April. The museum will open to public sometime this month.
Man-made troubles are also plaguing the city-owned institution: Charges of mismanagement are being made against the museum’s outside operator, Corpus Christi Museum Joint Venture. The group has been in charge of the museum since 2012. Before that, it was operated as a city department.
In mid-April, former museum Executive Director Carol Rehtmeyer and a group of museum supporters voiced their concerns to the City Council during a regular meeting. At the next meeting, the council signed a new contract with the museum’s current operator but limited the span of time and pledged to reopen the issue during budget discussions, which begin in August.
Rehtmeyer left the museum two years ago but remains on the board of the Corpus Christi Museum Association. The group charged Bill Durrill, president of Corpus Christi Museum Join Venture, with mismanaging the museum’s finances.
“Currently, the museum is managed by a for-profit organization led by one individual, devoid of a governing board,” Rehtmeyer told the council during the public comment period allowed at meetings. “One hundred percent of gross revenue is withdrawn from the museum with half of those funds paid as management fees to that for-profit company.”
The practice drains the museum of revenue, leaving management of the money in the hands of a “single, profit-minded individual,” Rehtmeyer said. The Corpus Christi Museum Association wants the city to explore other management options.
The council met about the charges in executive session but took no action. They were presented with details of a renegotiated contract at the next meeting. The council was expected to approve the new contract at the last regular council meeting in April, after this publication’s press time.
The new agreement changes how Joint Venture is paid. According to the new contract, Joint Venture will make 10 percent of gross revenue, or $120,000, whichever is greater. Revenue over that amount will be split between the city and the operating company. Before the new agreement, the city was given about $350,000 in revenue, and anything over that was split with the operating company.
The new agreement also turns over maintenance and repair of the facility to the city.
When the city ran the museum, it made about $350,000 a year. The first year Corpus Christi Joint Venture took over, it made almost $408,000. The next year that figured jumped to about $622,000.
“I think the folks who have been operating the museum show a commitment to the community,” said at-large council member Debbie Lindsey-Opel at the April 17 council meeting. “The numbers speak for themselves, and the museum has taken consistent steps to grow. Thanks for sticking with us through this difficult time.”
Durrill told the council he might not stick around much longer. He agreed to the five-month extension but is considering getting out of the museum business in September.
“We’re just trying to make it work for everybody,” he told the council. “We haven’t made any money, but we are headed in the right direction.”