How disappointing to readthe arguing about Old Cowtown Museum in Friday’s Eagle. Several museum board members, including president Tim Holt, said that Sedgwick County Commission Chairman Ben Sciortino, who is also a board member, assured them that the county would cover Cowtown’s $300,000 budget shortfall. "That’s a lie," Sciortino responded.
It’s a precarious time for most area museums, which are struggling with declining attendance and reduced private donations following Sept. 11. And major changes may be required. But if the museums are to survive and thrive, they need cooperation and good faith, not shoot-outs among supporters.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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41 Comments
So what is new about Ben Sciortino? It would not be the first time he told a lie.
He is a guy with a temper and is not suited to be a county commisioner let a lone the chair.
His outburst are frequent and he is never called on the carpet for it. He shames us all with his little temper tantrums. Not a good example for our children who are sent to stand in the corner for such behavior.
The thought of Cowtown closing is unthinkable. It is not pretty, flashy or loud. But the thought of it closing in favor of some minute draw is like replacing a fine work of art with a neon sign.Cowtown reflex real life, which is not always pretty or flashy. It honors where we come from and how far we have come. Like today, not all was bad nor is everything good….It is just life!
It seems to me that Cowtown is doing a lot better than Exploration place (7 mil?). The Zoo also receives 5 mil from the county per year. Why don’t we tell the zoo they have to be solvent themselves, too? $300,000 is a fraction of either of those. Yes, museums cannot stand on their own, because they have higher standards than amusement parks. the answer isn’t to try to turn them into amusement parks. Someone has to tell us that the hollywood version isn’t always the truth. Of course, I am biased. I did the Girl Scout summer program for years, learned a lot of interesting things, and loved it. Wild West World isn’t going to provide experiences like that. No, just bring the kids over ($20/person) to go on a western themed rollercoaster. That will teach them something.
Wichita’s 100% top history subject should be the 1920’s and 1930’s when Wichita’s real growth took place with the entrepreneurs leading the way. That’s when Wichita’s downtown was rolling and fine old office buildings were constructed. This part ofWichita’s history seems to be neglected.
In Kansas, there are many other places to visit “wild west” history sites such as Dodge City, Ft. Scott, Abilene, and even Lawrence for the 1856 Kansas War sites.
Of course, because we do have “Cowtown,” I suspect it will be preserved — especially now that the new adjacent $2,000,000 visitor’s center is open and searching for business.
JWink,Comparing Ft. Scott to Cowtown is comparing apples to oranges. Dodge City is a theme park compared to Cowtown. They have turned the place from historical to a tourist trap. I don’t want Cowtown to become like that. No one is going to go to a museum that concentrates on early 20th century history. The Old West part of history is very popular. Just look at Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper.Again JWink you exagerate the cost of the Visitors Center. The total cost was $1.6 million not $2 million get your facts straight. If you don’t believe the facts get on Cowtown’s website http://www.oldcowtown .org. and look it up. I love Cowtown and I think it should get the same amount of money the Zoo gets. With $3 million Cowtown could become a major tourist attraction. But of course the county has other priorities which is really just one money sucking priority the jail.
I just want to say, that the Visitor’s Center in Cowtown is more of a Welcome Center, but none the less it’s not really a waste of money. It will be a successful addition to Cowtown for additional revenue for bookings. It will take awhile before it can pay for itself, but evenutually it will.
Wichita lacks a very crucial element in attracting tourist. That is a very profound and good Visitors Information Center. We had a decent one when it was housed at the Wichita Boathouse. But since that building is closed, it reverted back to the CVB office on Douglass and Main street, which is difficult to find, park, and etc for visitors to our area.
I can go on and on about this, but the short of it is that I am personally working on a project to help establish a very prominent Visitors Information Center so that all of the area attractions can benefit enormously. Cowtown, Exploration Place, World Treasures, African-American Museum, Art museum, SC Zoo, Wild West World, Joyland, and relocation efforts will all benefit.
:)
Joe,I agree with you that Wichita has no real Visitors Center. The problem with the boathouse was that it was a visitors center and a wedding/banquet facility. I think Wichita needs to have a building devoted only to being a Visitors Center not a multiple use building.
Good posts, Joe and Keith. One of our most pressing problems in Wichita is our inability to market ourselves. Cowtown would benefit greatly from increased marketing, and it’s good to hear, Joe, that you’re working on a real information center. The boathouse was a poor excuse for one and the CVB location is even worse.
Did you read the article in the paper this weekend about Cowtown? A woman interviewed had purchased a family membership to Cowtown–she didn’t know these were offered until recently. I have to admit neither did I. I think it’s awful that citizens of this city no very little about our own attractions. I would like to see the day when I can’t go 10 minutes without reading, hearing, or seeing some kind of advertisement about one of our attractions.
Cowtown is a dump. So is Joyland. The reason most Wichita attractions are going broke is because they just aren’t very interesting.
Todd,Have you been to Cowtown in the past 2 years? Cowtown looks bad because they do not have enough money to do repairs. The piddly sum they get from the County does not cover repairs, hiring of new employees, maintenence and marketing.
The reason most Wichita attractions are going broke is because everyone expects them to make money using volunteers or a major volunteer source. Give Cowtown the same money that the Zoo gets and Cowtown would be a major attraction. Of course that would be too much money for a “dump.”
Of course the recent news is to move it to Park City. Talk about an idiotic move if I ever saw one. If you think Cowtown was losing money now it will lose more money in Park City. Of course since Cowtown is not on the high priority list for the county they come up with this dumba$$ idea.
Will they move the $2 million vistor center too? I have to say that moving Cowtown so that it can be adjacent to Wild West is good idea, but it’s $2 million late. Just as it was a bit too late to merge Waterwalk and the Arena. Our leaders a suffering from shortsightness.
Moving Cowtown, a living history MUSEUM, practically next door to a western themed AMUSEMENT park is one of the most ridiculous ideas I’ve heard in a while. Yes, Cowtown could use some additional life, or at least something to make it more appealing to a generation used to exciting and amazingly realistic video games and movies. But let’s not be silly. Cowtown needs balance between its legitimate historic mission and entertainment value. It does not need to be the next Boothill, or worse yet, Universal Studios.
Roger,What happens if Wild West World goes bankrupt? Cowtown would be the only thing in the middle of nowhere. Then where will the County move Cowtown next. The best thing to do is do what the consultants said to do give Cowtown money to become a major tourist attraction. The foundation is there it just needs to have more money. Also the $1.6 million Visitor’s Center would stay.
I think the conventional wisdom in tourism now is that visitors want “experiential tourism”. They want to DO things, not SEE things. They want an ACTIVE experience not a PASSIVE experience.
Slightly off topic here, but I have seen several articles in several papers lately, all saying that museums across the state are experiencing declining numbers of visitors and the associated declining revenue streams.
Whatever museums can do to create intractive experiential tourism will get them on the right track. I have never been to Cowtown, but I would think the same holds true.
And the inability to market is a statewide malaise. I dont see anyone in the state really doing it well, so that is not unique to Wichita. It is an opportunity though…
Moving Cowtown makes PERFECT sense IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE REAL REASONS! Think of all that prime riverfront real estate that can be given to a “preferred developer”!
I agree wholeheartedly, farmgirl. But I also believe putting Cowtown next to Wild West World sends the wrong message. I fear visitors would expect something similar to Silver Dollar City out of Cowtown. Cowtown would not be taken seriously as a museum. Cowtown has a lot of soul-searching to do, and you said it very well in that people “want to DO things, not SEE things…They want an ACTIVE experience not a PASSIVE experience.” Absolutely. Cowtown has made some strides towards delivering that, and it needs to continue to modify its M.O. However, it needs to also stay true to its original mission. Having WWW next door distracts too much from that.
“Todd,Have you been to Cowtown in the past 2 years? Cowtown looks bad because they do not have enough money to do repairs. The piddly sum they get from the County does not cover repairs, hiring of new employees, maintenence and marketing.”
Steve – It’s just another money loser among the many other money losers in Wichita. Run it like a business, make money, or go away.
Todd, I didnt post about moving it. I think what you have is more important than where you have it. I have no knowledge of where it should be located.
Todd,I guess the Zoo should go away also since it gets money from the County too. This mentality that all attractions that don’t make money should go away is very simple minded. Wichita likes to promote attractions but doesn’t want to fund them properly so they then lose money because people don’t go to them.
ksfarmgrrl,It would be great if Cowtown could get more hands on exhibits. The only problem is that they get such little money from the county and city that they have to do things with very little. 2 years ago they had record crowds and with the same events last year they lost money. The problem with being an outdoor museum is the weather. I think Cowtown is doing all they could do with the very limited resources they have.
Todd, non-profits can’t be run like a business. Museums do not exist to make money. Museums and cultural attractions AROUND THE COUNTRY do not make money, it’s not just a Wichita thing.
Humor me, Todd, I’m curious: I’ve noticed a great deal of anti-business bloggers around here, folks who immediately assume some kind of conspiracy between government interests and rich businessmen. They say things like rich people only screw us or businessmen are the devil or something like that. But in the next breath, they advocate private ownership and demand a profit motive for everything. Everything must make money and private businessmen should own everything, they say. How are these two seemingly contradictory platforms reconciled???
Some people……
“Run it like a busisiness, make money or go away”
People like that I have to wonder if they really care about anything at all beyond the almighty dollar.I find myself wondering why such folk bother to post on an issue like this at all. I’d think they’d rather be reviewing a ledger.
Not everything that is profitable is good. And not everything good is profitable.
Moving Cowtown after building the visitor center would be rediculous. I find myself wondering like Ben about the real estate and maybe some party wanting it AND the new visitor center.
Cowtown is a wonderful family attraction and should get proper funding to remain so. But perhaps evening hours could be focused more as to adult “period” enterainment. More risque dance hall girls and an operating saloon maybe.This could bring busisness without compromising the daytime family atmosphere.
Interesting idea JR. How about a real western style gambling hall?
Yeah there ya go Ben! Now that would be interesting!
Thing is, most of the same people against gambling are the same people who don’t want to fund Cowtown.
My family visits Cowtown at Christmas. I don’t know if any other time of the year is as busy.
I like the ideal of offering exhibits where the patron gets involved, although that can be a tough option when we’re talking about historical items that need to be preserved.
The printing shop allows visitors to turn a press in order to print a greeting card. Singing with cowboys around a fire is cool.
I always see CT as a place to get away. It’s a great place that can be even better.
“Not everything that is profitable is good. And not everything good is profitable.”
You must really love Wichita. Because it has plenty of things that don’t make money because they aren’t good.
“Humor me, Todd, I’m curious:”
Humor me, Steve, I’m curious: Why do you enjoy spending other people’s money so much?
Todd, I don’t enjoy spending other people’s money. I pay taxes, too, ya know. The world does not revolve around you. I enjoy seeing OUR money put to work making this city a better place to live. I enjoy seeing OUR money provide US quality activities and cultural opportunities. I enjoy seeing OUR money provide OUR kids learning opportunities outside the classroom. If this were the United States of Todd, I would feel differently.
You never answered my question…
“You must really love Wichita. Because it has plenty of things that don’t make money because they aren’t good.”
You missed the point. Good does not always equal profits. You think the Smithsonian, the best museum in the world, is profitable?–think again, my friend. I guess that means we should shut it down. We should shut down the Field Museum in Chicago as well. But let’s keep Disney World open, for God’s sakes. I won’t learn a damn thing there but at least I can get fat on hotdogs and barf on a rollercoaster!!
Zoo vs Cowtown vs Exploration Place. I’d like to see some sort of figures about subsidy per visitor. I don’t have a fundamental problem with public subsidy for public amenities. However, I would like to know that these amenities are truly improving the quality of life for the citizens.
That would be an interesting measure (subsidy per visitor), Ben. Maybe I can scrounge something up, unless someone beats me to it.
The 2005 actual attendence for Cowtown has not been released yet. So I would go to 2004 for the information. In 2004 Cowtown had 64,000 visitors and the county spent $470,860. For a total of $7.36 per visitor. The information can be found just type Number of Visitors at Old Cowtown Museum on Yahoo and it will bring up a document titled “Culture & Recreation”. It is a PDF file so I can’t post it on here.
Sorry I have never been to cowtown. What is the admission fee?
I don’t remember KFG.
I do know it is a bit high. It could come down and draw biggger crowds.
For folks who would visit Cowtown or Exploration Place or the zoo or the Cosmosphere, more than a few times a year…….a membership is probably a bargain in the long run.
If I remember right there has been coupons in the paper for 2 for one admissions. Plus there used to be a coupon in the Cowtown brochure that you can get at basically at every attraction. The admission for adults is $7.75. For families children 4 to 11 if they get deputized they get in free for the whole year with a paying adult membership. Membership is $30 for single adult, $45 for 2 people, and $55 for family/grandparent (2 adults and up to 5 children) alot of this information is on Cowtown’s website http://www.oldcowtown.org
If you think Cowtown is expensive try going to Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper. But yet it is packed every night. Adult price is $25.00 I think that is too much.
I think my zoo membership cost me $81 for 3 adults and the grandkids. Thing about the zoo is I never get tired of taking the boys there. I think the problem with Cowtown is that once you have seen it there isn’t much left to see.
Ben that is exactly the problem with museums and attractions to “see” instead of attractions to “do”. The zoo may be passive, but the animals change all the time and do different things constantly.
I think the two can be succesfully combined. JR had a great idea about saloons (the longbranch at boot hill served sasparilla for the little ones) and gambling. That is EXACTLY why Dodge City is on the list of casino towns. (Thank you Jan Scoggins Waite!)
There could be fake shootouts, dancing girls, old time chuck wagon food, live music, etc. Cowboy church services etc. Cowboy poets and singing around the campfire.
When visitors take a break, they can see the “see” things, then go back to doing the “do” things.
Next time I am in Wichita I guess I will have to check it out.
I guess I am confused what do you mean by “do” things?Cowtown has added many new events for this year.The idea of an old west casino at Cowtown would be cool.All Cowtown needs is the money to get the ball rolling. I think Cowtown staff is more than willing to add new things. They already have added cattle drives every day.
Keith, I don’t think anyone is complaining about the job Cowtown has done with the miniscule resources it has to deal with. It has done a fantastic job just keeping the doors open, and you’re absolutely right–it has been more than willing to try new things. However, in the not-so-distant past, Cowtown struggled to understand what “do” meant. They took “see” to a whole ‘nuther level. With the leadership and staff in place at Cowtown today, things are changing. I would be excited to see what they can do with the funding that they deserve–I just hope to God that everyone there understands that continued change is necessary (as long as it does not substantially detract from the historic mission).
Steve,I think people want Cowtown to succeed but I think they don’t want to spend the money to let it succeed. The front page story in today’s Eagle is prove to what I mean.
Yeah, I think you’re absolutely right. People in this town want world class attractions but they want to do it on a shoestring budget and a staff of volunteers. It’s ridiculous. I don’t understand why everyone here believes in the proverbial free lunch.
Ethridge is a great guy and he has done wonders at Prairie Rose and I know WWW will be a huge hit just because of him. But I do not like his ideas for Cowtown. It’s not entertainment, it’s a museum. That does not mean it shouldn’t have many elements of entertainment (the “do” factor), but it must stay true to its historic mission.
The county commission should try this: give Cowtown the cash it needs, listen to the consultants and the public, and don’t **** with anything else. But I doubt they’ll listen to me.