Please Touch Museum files for bankruptcy
The childrens museum located in iconic Memorial Hall had been languishing under the weight of $60 million in bond debt for two years.
AFTER TWO years of languishing under the weight of $60 million in bond debt, the Please Touch Museum has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The museum reached a settlement with its bondholders yesterday, according to a release issued by the museum's board.
"Today's filing puts Please Touch Museum on a path toward even greater success," said Sally Stetson, the board's chair.
Stetson stressed that the museum, housed in Memorial Hall off Parkside Avenue in West Philly, will remain open as it works to find "stable financial ground."
"The negotiations lasted for so long that it placed the museum in a sort of limbo," Stetson said. "Today's filing allows us to move forward once and for all."
Under the agreement, the bondholders will receive $11 million while the museum mounts a fundraising campaign to reach its $10 million goal by next March.
That money will support the terms of the settlement, as well as boost the museum's capital fund, devoted to renovating Memorial Hall. Earlier this year, the city pledged $1 million to the museum to repair the hall's 80-foot dome, which had sprung several leaks.
The museum began racking up bond debt in 2008, when it left its former location at 21st and Race streets in Center City. Economic woes rocked the museum board's fundraising efforts, and forced it to sell its original building for half its value, according to the statement.
As a result, Please Touch had been in default on its bond since 2013.
Lynn McMaster, the museum's president and CEO, said in a statement that her staff was "relieved to be heading towards a resolution of our financial situation."
"Knowing that those issues will be behind us, we can focus more intently on our mission and the children we serve," she added.