"$500k later, no museum"

[mkirkaldy@aol.com]

> From the Gary Post-Tribune, May 15, 2005:

$500k later, no museum
State audit raises questions for yet-to-be-built Discovery Center
By Steve Walsh Post-Tribune staff writer
Supporters of The Discovery Center of Northwest Indiana are facing 
allegations of mismanagement as they prepare to ask for millions in 
private donations for a long-stalled children's museum. Almost five 
years after the planned museum project received $500,000 from the state 
Build Indiana Fund, the State Board of Accounts is auditing the group's 
books.

The report, which will not be released for another month, is expected 
to show that the board violated state regulations when it used Build 
Indiana money to hire dinosaur expert Don Wolberg as its executive 
director. State auditors also had no record of the museum providing the 
private audit report required for not-for-profits that  receive more 
than $100,000 in state money. "We don't have a record of them ever 
being audited," state Auditor Charles Johnson said. No evidence has 
surfaced suggesting organizers lined their pockets with state money. 
The audit and other documents do raise questions about whether the 
all-volunteer board has its fiscal house in order, even as backers say 
they are on the verge of a campaign to raise the estimated $30 million 
to build the lakefront museum. "They are addressing some of those 
issues right now. The state should have numbers from their audit," said 
Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicago. Harris said the project is not in 
trouble. Funding for a children's museum first appeared in 1999, when 
Harris secured a $1 million donation in the state budget for a North 
Lake County Children's Museum.

<Big Snip>
Director's pay stops
Wolberg was hired from an advertisement The Discovery Center board 
placed in museum trade publications. The paleontologist founded the 
pop-culture hit Dinofest, which was last at Navy Pier in Chicago in 
2001.
Contacted at his home in New Mexico, Wolberg said he had been flown to 
Northwest Indiana for an interview in February 2004. He was told he was 
the board's second choice, but he was later given a contract that would 
earn him $6,500 a month as executive director and consultant for the 
new museum. That's $78,000 a year. Still an avid supporter of The 
Discovery Center of Northwest Indiana, Wolberg thinks that, with the 
right plan, the project could draw tourists to Lake County while giving 
the area a much-needed cultural shot in the arm. "I would have to 
describe the board as well-meaning amateurs, but I think they have the 
best interest of the area at heart," he said. Problems arose early in 
Wolberg's contract. Paychecks did not come regularly. He found out he 
was a private contractor and not an employee. He had to pay his own 
Social Security taxes and had no health insurance from the money he 
received. He was in the midst of buying a house in Northwest Indiana 
when his wife told him to wait until his new bosses answered more 
questions. Then, the monthly checks stopped coming all together. 
Wolberg said he could not remember whether he received his last check 
in August or September.

<Big Snip>

(Please contact me if you would like the full article, as there is no 
url to point to.)

Mary Kirkaldy