News

By Sallie James

    The financially strapped not-for-profit Boca Raton Children’s Museum may have a savior. Florence Fuller Child Development Centers, a Boca Raton-based nonprofit organization, has expressed interest in taking over the struggling 34-year-old entity and Boca Raton city officials have voiced support.
    Although no agreements have been signed and neither the City Council nor Florence Fuller’s board of directors has voted on the matter, Florence Fuller CEO Ellyn Okrent is hopeful.
    “We are very excited about this project but it hasn’t been finalized yet,” Okrent said. “It’s not a done deal at this point.”
    Under the proposal, the city would allocate $50,000 for the museum to ease the transition. Then Florence Fuller Child Development Centers would take over.
    Okrent said her organization will have to raise an additional $300,000 to cover the museum’s annual budget. That’s on top of the $1.7 million already needed to cover their own annual budget, she said.
    In April, museum Executive Director Denise St. Patrick-Bell outlined the museum’s dire financial straits at a Boca Raton City Council meeting and issued a plea for financial help. She proposed the city share costs with the museum by providing an annual $150,000 contribution.
    The idea of a merger or acquisition came up as an alternative and long-term solution.
    “The Children’s Museum needs to have donors at the ready who are making the contributions necessary to give them the programming,” said council member Robert Weinroth, who helped put the two groups together. “I think between the two we will have a much better operating facility.”