City Votes to Bail Out Children's Museum

The Naperville City Council came to the rescue of the DuPage Children's Museum on Tuesday night by giving the go-ahead to a purchase deal that will wipe out the museum's bond debt.

The council voted 8-1 during its regular council meeting to approve the intergovernmental agreement among the state, city, county, private donors and Chase Bank. The deal eliminates a $9.4 million burden on the museum's property and gives ownership of the property to the city.

"Economic times present some rare opportunities and I consider this one of those rare opportunities …" Councilman James Boyajian said, adding "for the sake of transparency" that he spent five years on the finance committee for the DuPage Children's Museum.

"… I've got a pretty good sharp pencil; I don't give your tax dollars away very easily. … But I'm here to tell you tonight that I am in support of this agreement."

Naperville will pay $3 million for the 3-acre parcel of land on which the museum sits — a parcel worth an estimated $6.9 million, according to city documents. The county, state and private donors will contribute about $3.2 million, and Chase Bank will add the final $3.5 million that's owed.

The purchase will not affect the city's operating budget. The city's portion will be paid for using two sources, Councilman Paul Hinterlong said. The first will be generating $1 million from Burlington Fund by converting about 60 parking spaces to commuter spots at the downtown Metra station. The remaining $2 million will be drawn from leftover bond allocations in the capital improvement program.

The vote on the issue Tuesday followed a two-hour discussion and seven speakers from the community. A group of about 100 people in the audience wore red-and-white DuPage Children's Museum stickers to show their support.

The lone "no" vote was cast by Councilman Grant Wehrli, who said during the meeting that he supports the museum and its role in the community. He felt strongly, however, that the business decision should not be fueled by emotions. He also cited the organization's reputation of having an unstable financial foundation.

"People think, 'It's for the kids so it must be good,'" he said. "That's not necessarily true. … Six days is not enough time to decide that this is the business the city wants to be in."

The city has been debating the land acquisition during closed sessions for about two years, officials said.

The museum will continue to operate under a 20-year lease from the city under the deal, documents stated, and its lease will be rent-free for the first five years. The museum's budget must be approved annually by the city as a provision of the agreement, and two seats on the organization's board of directors must be occupied by city representatives.

"I consider (the museum) one of our crown jewels to the downtown, along with the Riverwalk, settlement, the college, the beach …" Hinterlong said. "It'd be a shame to lose it, especially when we've got the business deal we have."