Hoops Museum

Lexington Herald-Leader (KY) Front Page article (February 10, 1999)

HOOPS MUSEUM TO OPEN WITH $2.2 MILLION DEBT by Valarie Honeycutt, Herald-Leader Staff Writer

Talk about your come-from-behind situations. When the University of Kentucky Basketball Museum opens Saturday, it will be $2.2 million in debt. In a state that loves its Wildcats, a five-year fund-raising effort - helped along by $1 million in tax money from the city of Lexington - has come up more than 40 percent short of the $5.3 million needed. Officials with the museum, a non-profit corporation, predict that a continuing emphasis on fund raising, retail sales at a UK-related shop and the museum's admissions will make enough money to retire the debt in three to five years. But if they're eager to predict a healthy future, officials are not as quick to discuss the history of the museum, which has been scheduled to open in every year since 1995. "It's unproductive to second-guess on the eve of opening what you might or might not have done differently in the fund raising," said Jim LeMaster, the former UK player who is president of the museum's board. Still, interviews and documents reveal the following reasons for its debts and delays: * Its fund raising, including a relatively expensive idea to give gold, silver and bronze medallions to donors, did not meet goals. [Jane Murray-Vimonts’ idea.] * The board didn't hire a full-time director until after almost four years of planning, despite pleas to hire one from a project manager who was working under contract. * When director Mike Durham was hired in 1997, he said it became apparent that museum organizers "had not understood the scope of the project in hard terms." It would cost millions more than anyone thought.

Already, the museum has mounted a pretty successful comeback. Just 18 months ago, things looked far more bleak. `FISH OR CUT BAIT' Former UK star Kyle Macy had resigned from the museum's board after several months of work, citing concerns that money was being wasted. (Macy, the coach of the Morehead State University men's basketball team, recently returned to the board and says he now thinks the museum is on solid financial footing.) In the summer of 1997, Lexington city officials, concerned about the museum's finances, had begun demanding detailed accounts of where money was going, and were questioning whether they should proceed with a commitment to give $1 million. By August 1997, Jane Vimont, a former mayoral aide who was heading the project as a contract worker, had resigned to take what she described as an attractive job in Canada. At that point, the effort had raised $1.7 million after writing off uncollectable pledges - and spent $1.5 million, according to records. [Jane Murray] Vimont declined to be interviewed for this article. [Don’t skip over this part! When Jane Murray was in charge of fund-raising, they RAISED $1.7 million but the SPENT $1.5 million to do it! And much of the money went it Jane Murray’s pocket.] But LeMaster, president of Kentucky operations for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, the health insurer, acknowledged that 1997 was pivotal, when years of effort were put to the test. "We had to fish or cut bait," he said. He credited Vimont and her firm, Jane Vimont and Associates (also called JVA) with keeping the museum "on target for our final goal." LeMaster also receives credit from his fellow board members for keeping the project going. [Apparently Lemaster didn’t want to point fingers during the grand opening event.] SPENDING PATTERNS Though fund-raisers for a UK basketball museum date back to the 1970s, the latest effort began in earnest in 1994, when the museum incorporated and hired Vimont as project manager and fund-raiser under contract. From then until late 1997, the museum had no office or staff of its own.

Vimont, who had previously worked on the museum concept for several years as a city employee, "was our office. She was our staff," LeMaster said. Minutes from several board meetings indicate that Vimont repeatedly urged the board to hire a full-time director. But board members hesitated to spend money they might not be able to raise, LeMaster said. Vimont frequently provided the board with lists of her duties, which ranged from coordinating marketing to handling all financial transactions to fund raising. As project manager and fund raiser, Vimont paid out more than $840,000 for expenses such as project management, fund raising, and staffing an office from early 1994 until July 1997. Over the same time, $600,000 went for construction and design costs, records show. Of the $840,000 in non-construction expenses, the museum's invoices show that Vimont's firm, JVA, received $465,000. Durham said a substantial amount of that money represented reimbursement for business-related expenses. LeMaster said JVA received between $4,000 and $6,000 a month under its contract with the museum board. The Herald-Leader requested a copy of the contract [with Jane Murray-Vimont] , but museum officials have been unable to find one. [Seriously? Jane Murray’s museum could not find a copy of its contract with her? Did she take it with her?] The money devoted to fund raising was troubling to former UK player Steve Lochmueller, who served on a steering committee for raising money. "You don't spend money, necessarily, to make money," said Lochmueller, an area manager for a telecommun- ications firm and now a member of the museum's full board. He said his concern about fund raising may simply have been a "perception." Clearly, though, the effort ran into real problems. Several deadlines for opening came and went. NOT `A WINNER' By the end of the museum's first year, total contributions and pledges were reported at $313,059, but only $136,000 of the pledges had been collected. [Murray-Vimont collected only

half of the pledged amount.] That fell far short of an initial goal, $3 million for the first 18 months. A key fund-raising effort, in which gold, silver or bronze medallions were given to donors, was far less successful than its $2.9 million goal. The museum spent $201,105 on 6,500 medallions. Only about 800 went to donors, in return for gifts totaling $1.1 million. The medallions made an additional $36,000 for the museum when Whitaker Banks purchased 2,000, records show. Durham, the museum's executive director, said he's not sure how many are left in stock. Records show it may be as many as 3,762. [6500 expensive medallions ordered by Murray-Vimont. Over half left over. Definitely not a winner of an idea, Jane!] Durham has decided to discontinue the program. "It [Murray-Vimont’s idea for a fundraiser] wasn't a winner," he said. CITY OFFICIALS CONCERNED If private contributions weren't exactly streaming in, public con-tributions were. [Funds that Lexington is still paying off today.] The Lexington Center, a corporation of the Urban County Government, offered 10 years' worth of free rent for the museum in the Civic Center Shops. (The museum pays about $50,000 a year for utilities and operating expenses. Without the deal, rent might be $100,000 to $150,000 a year.) The museum also lined up $1 million in cash from Lexington city government. [Much of it went in Murray-Vimont’s pocket.]That gift was required by state officials as part of an agreement stemming from the aborted Lexington Cultural Center. After the center project was canceled, city officials were required to redirect state funds allocated to it to various cultural efforts, including the museum. Half the million-dollar contribution was made in February 1997. But by midyear, when Vimont asked for an additional $250,000, city officials were wary. Ken Kerns, the city's chief administrative officer, wrote to Vimont that city officials wanted full access to all financial records. Kerns said in an interview that he grew concerned about the museum's financial condition. But Kerns said that Durham, the executive director

who was hired in August 1997, eventually demonstrated that the museum would meet all the terms of its agreement with the city, including a requirement to raise $2 million by May 1999. "In our minds, the problem is solved," Kerns said in a recent interview. SOLVING THE PROBLEM Costs, meanwhile, were growing. In August 1997, Vimont told board members that increased construction costs would push the project's construction budget higher than the $2.6 million anticipated in 1993. Durham, who had been vice president at Louisville's Kentucky Center for the Arts, said he quickly realized that costs would exceed $6 million. So Durham began working to trim costs and find money. The search took museum officials to Lexington's Central Bank, which with nine other Kentucky banks lent the museum $2.2 million. Eager to secure low interest rates available to local governments, museum officials last year persuaded the city of Midway to sell bonds that the banks would purchase. (Museum officials were unable to use Lexington, which had already met its capacity for bond sales on other projects.) The bond sale leaves the museum a challenge: paying its debt. Durham says he thinks the attraction will draw $900,000 in paid admissions - and as many as 150,000 people - in its first year. About that many people visited the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs in Louisville last year. Once the museum opens, Durham hopes to begin a new statewide fund-raising campaign. "There's no question that we've had some credibility issues on when it's going to open," he said. But Durham, Macy and several others say those issues will fade as soon as fans experience the museum. Said museum board member Adolph "Herky" Rupp Jr., the son of the late UK basketball coach, Adolph Rupp: "It took longer than we hoped, but it's happening." LeMaster, who has devoted about seven years to the project, said, "We hope people can enjoy it forever." [What a sad comment from Mr. Lemaster.]

[It is a true shame that just few years later, Jim Lemaster, after such an illustrious history as a UK Basketball player, such end his career caught up in scandalous debacle caused by Jane Murray-Vimont’s own incompetence.]

Jim Lemaster #12,UK, 1965-68

TIMELINE [From the Lexington Herald Leader Article] * 1991-1992: After fits and starts stemming back to 1978 [Jane Murray-Vimont represented the City of Lexington in these meetings as Mayor Baesler’s assistant], a committee headed by former player Jim LeMaster begins studying the feasibility of a University of Kentucky basketball museum. * 1994: LeMaster incorporates a non-profit company called the University of Kentucky Basketball Museum, Inc. Its board hires JVA Inc., a local project planning firm. Previous fund-raising efforts in the 1970s and 1980s had already raised $48,000. * January 1994: UK Coach Rick Pitino and then-state Tourism Secretary Crit Luallen announce plans for the museum. Museum supporters say it will take 18 months to raise the $3 million they need $2.4 million to pay for it and $600,000 to operate it. The museum is scheduled to open in 1995. * July 1995: A June telethon for the museum raised $316,000 in pledges. [Which Jane MurrayVimont collected less than one-half of.] * April 1996: Lexington city government agrees to pay $1 million to the museum [much of it going to Murray-Vimont’s consulting firm] as part of an agreement with the state regarding state funds given to the abortive Ben Snyder Block-Lexington Cultural Center project. [MurrayVimont was also deeply involved Ben Snyder/Cultural Center fiasco.] * November 1996: JVA [Murray-Vimont’s company] turns over the fund-raising role to board members and a steering committee. * January 1997: Officials announce museum will open in January 1998. JVA owner Jane Vimont says the project will cost $3.3 million with $300,000 in an endowment fund to operate it. * September 1997: Vimont terminates the JVA contract and takes a job in Canada. Mike Durham, the new executive director, realizes that the museum as proposed could cost more than $6 million. At this point, the museum has essentially raised $1.7 million and spent $1.5 million. * November 1998: The Midway City Council agrees to a plan to issue $2.2 million in bonds to help the museum secure low interest rates at 10 Kentucky banks. As part of the deal, the UK museum will give $25,000 to Midway to start its own community museum. *January 1999: Officials announce the museum will open Feb. 13. [ * June 2008: After many years of struggling to meet financial burdens placed on the museum by poor planning and lousy fund-raising by Jane Murray-Vimont and her consulting firm, the beleaguered UK Basketball Museum finally closed its doors, still over one million dollars in debt.]

R.I.P.