Public reacts to upcoming Children's Discovery Center vote

Jul. 23—The city's sudden change in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the Children's Discovery Center has left St. Joseph residents with more questions than answers before the council's vote Monday.

The current St. Joseph City Council is in this position because the former one decided to not vote on the project to begin with.

Although the ARPA citizens committee recommended funding for the project, former City Councilman Russell Moore said it was on a "fast track to failure" because Mosaic Life Care failed to provide a business plan and an endowment fund.

But once a business plan was provided, a new council had taken office. The original proposal was $4 million of city ARPA funds to go toward the Children's Discovery Center, which was to be housed in either the U.S. Bank building Downtown or the Plymouth building.

The new council hasn't had any public meetings regarding the project, which is why many residents were surprised to learn about the change in funding. Instead of the entire $4 million going to the project, Mosaic Life Care Foundation would receive $2.5 million, while the other $1.5 million would be used for infrastructure and revitalization along Felix Street between Fourth and Sixth streets. The proposal also requires the Children's Discovery Center to be in the Plymouth building, which Mosaic already owns.

However, some residents view the U.S. Bank building as the better option with more parking and accessibility.

"The structure itself seemed to be able to support a project of this magnitude and really do a lot better than the Plymouth building," said Cris Coffman, the Nesting Goods owner. "Again, we are excited about improvements in Downtown and especially on the Plymouth building, but just wondering if this is the right building for that project."

Although Coffman has questions, she supports the project, as do most Downtown business owners.

"People have to drive from all over to go to places just like this in Kansas City," Coffman said. "We're a large enough city that we could support something like this, and it would be wonderful for our Downtown."

Even businesses not along Felix Street realize the potential of more Downtown foot traffic.

"As business owners Downtown, we always do better when there's things going, whether it be the live music, when the rodeo is in town, when there's things going on Downtown, people do come down here," said Aaron Mulder, the owner of RC's Lunch Car.

However, the $1.5 million of ARPA funds for Felix Street revitalization has created some concerns, as the city still isn't sure how that money will be used.

"My concern as a citizen is the lack of transparency in these types of moves," said Stanley Harris, the facility director at the Power & Light building.

Coffman wants to see more guidelines about how the funds would be dispersed.

"What kind of regulations do they have in place and how the funds were used just to make sure that they were used in the way that they were intended, and that's improving the look of that block, which is desperately needed," Coffman said.

But business owners still agree with the need for revitalization.

"Anything we can do to revitalize and fix facades up, improve the way Downtown looks," said Michael Olinger, the owner of Angry Swede Brewing Co. "That's a total win for everyone down here."

There are worries that adding the Discovery Center to a town saturated with underfunded museums is ill-advised. The St. Joseph Museum Board hasn't taken an official position on the project, but Executive Director Sara Wilson offered her perspective.

"I'm constantly concerned that all of our museums are not stably funded here in St Joseph," she said. "To add another museum to that mix is going to be a challenge."

The St. Joseph Museums applied for ARPA funding but didn't receive any. Wilson said the Wyeth-Tootle Mansion needs about $4 million of renovations and the Remington Nature Center could be improved.

According to the most recent public records available for the Mosaic Life Care Foundation, in 2018, it had total revenue of around $3.3 million and total expenses of around $2.3 million, with about $27 million in total assets.

"The particular audience that the Children's Discovery Center is trying to attract is the same audience that will overlap with Pony Express and Remington Nature Center," Wilson said. "So on one hand, that may be very good because that will attract tourism to those sites. On the other hand, we're also going to be competing with them for school groups, birthday party rentals, memberships and for donors."

Quinn Ritzdorf can be reached at quinn.ritzdorf@newspressnow.com