By LESLIE COLLINS
Northeast News
August 7, 2013

Once again, the scope of the audit regarding Union Station Kansas City, Inc.’s operation of the Kansas City Museum has been delayed.

The city auditor’s office was originally scheduled to present a detailed scope statement in late March regarding Union Station’s contract with the city to oversee the museum and whether or not Union Station was adequately fulfilling its duties. However, that presentation never came to fruition.

During the city’s July 31 Finance, Governance and Ethics Committee meeting, Committee Chair Jan Marcason asked the committee to postpone the audit scope statement until after Labor Day, citing that constructive discussions are continuing to occur.

“The museum has made incredible progress, thanks to $10 million in funding from the city, thanks to wonderful programming by the director (Christopher Leitch). We want to make sure that things continue to move forward congenially as much as possible,” Marcason said, who also sits on the Kansas City Museum Advisory Board (KCMAB).

Marcason added that she’s spoken with Union Station and Kansas City Museum representatives and both entities agree a separation is appropriate.

A split of the two entities would require a new governance structure for the Kansas City Museum and one proposal is to use a non-profit entity to oversee the operations of the museum. KCMAB Chair Martha Lally said the board recently established the Kansas City Museum Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, which could oversee the museum. The foundation is currently awaiting IRS approval.

A separation of Union Station and the Kansas City Museum would also create more fundraising opportunities for the museum, Marcason said. The Kansas City Museum is currently unaccredited through the American Alliance of Museums and is ineligible for certain funding reserved for museums as a result of its ties to Union Station.

“The structure that was set up back when the Kansas City Museum Association and Union Station Kansas City were melded together presumed several things,” City Council member and KCMAB member Scott Wagner said.

The primary expectation was that Union Station Kansas City, Inc. would be in a position to fundraise for the Kansas City Museum, including its renovations, he said.

“That is really the issue we have as we are trying to move forward,” Wagner said.

The city has preserved the envelope of the museum, and now it’s time to move to the next phase and fundraise to renovate the museum’s interior and restore exhibits, he said.

Renovating the interior will cost about $20 million and Union Station officials have said it’s not appropriate for Union Station to fundraise for that project, Marcason said.

“It seems as if to move forward productively, we need to take a little bit of a step back over the next month, figure out a way to produce a governing structure that will work for the city and for Corinthian Hall,” Marcason said. “I feel like the work of the auditor is important and we need to give him and his staff time to do that.”

City Auditor Douglas Jones said the scope statement is in draft form and that the release date of the completed audit will hinge on the scope of the audit.

“It (Kansas City Museum) really is a treasure,” Marcason said. “It’s our hope that it becomes more than a Northeast treasure, that it’s a treasure enjoyed by people all throughout the region.”