Boonshoft unlikely to re-open in Springfield

Renovations at downtown building seen as too costly.

The Boonshoft Museum might still draw residents to Clark County, but it likely won’t be to downtown Springfield, museum officials said this week.

The museum, which drew about 21,000 visitors to Springfield in 2015, closed its location at the Upper Valley Mall earlier this year, citing declining foot traffic.

Museum leaders had considered reopening at a location in downtown Springfield but have decided against that because of the cost, said Mark Meister, president and CEO of the Dayton Society of Natural History.

“Initially we were investigating a downtown location but then we determined it would be too expensive for renovation and operations,” Meister said. “We are still looking for an appropriate space in Springfield but at this point we have not signed any agreements for any spaces and we don’t have a timetable for when something might happen.”

Boonshoft had considered a handful of locations, including the former Myers Market building that currently houses United Seniors Services at 101 S. Fountain Ave. But to do so, it needed to raise about $2 million to renovate the space and an additional $2 million for an endowment. The museum’s board preferred to have raised the money by this month.

Local leaders will continue to work with the Boonshoft to find an appropriate location in Springfield, said Mike McDorman, president and CEO of the Chamber of Greater Springfield. But the cost of the project and short timetable was unrealistic, he said.

“We believe the Boonshoft board’s expectations of Springfield were higher than can be realized at that location,” McDorman said.

A group of private business and foundation leaders recently announced an SpringForward, a new nonprofit tasked with raising money to provide low-interest loans to entrepreneurs and spur development downtown.

But McDorman said raising that kind of money in just a few months was not feasible.

“That created a big challenge for the community to come up with $4 million for that particular site and it was not achievable in the time frame they were looking at,” he said.

Local economic development officials were hopeful the museum could remain open at the mall until a new site could be found, McDorman said.

But the mall saw a significant decline in foot traffic in 2015 after anchors like J.C. Penney and Macy’s closed their stores. The roughly 20,000-square-foot-museum had occupied space at the former Elder-Beerman store since the end of 2013.

About 25,000 people visited Boonshoft there in 2014, but that number dipped about 20 percent after the stores left.

But board members still see Springfield as a good fit for the museum.

“We viewed Springfield as an independent metropolitan area that had a deficit in regard to the type of facility we provide in terms of hands-on science education,” Meister said. “We were very well-received by the public in Springfield. In our first year we had 25,000 visitors at the mall and that puts us right at the top of cultural attractions in Springfield.”

The 100-year-old Myers building is expected to be vacated by United Senior Services by Oct. 1. The senior organization is renovating the former Eagles property on West Main Street.