McKinley Associates Founder Ron Weiser Acquires Detroit Science Center Bank Debt to Help Reopen Museum

the Detroit Science Center appealed to a third party to buy back its debt with Citizen Bank of Flinteight months after the museum closed.

Ron Weiser, founder of McKinley Associates Inc. in Ann Arbor and former president of the Republican Party of Michigan and National Finance Chairman for Republican National Committeereached an agreement to acquire $6.2 million in debt and plans to make the land, building and contents of the science center available to a new nonprofit incorporated in April, the Michigan Science Center.

The science center’s debt was related to its 2001 expansion and a $1 million line of credit.

The Michigan Science Center will be operated by new management and will have a new board led by Tom Stephens, a 43-year veteran of General Motors Co.who chaired the board of directors of the Detroit Science Center after the resignation of François Castaing in January.

“We are excited about this plan as it removes any concerns about the science center winding down and better positions us for our ultimate goal of reopening in Midtown,” Stephens said in the statement.

The mission of the new Michigan Science Center will be to inspire children and their families to discover, explore, and enjoy science, technology, engineering, and math” in a dynamic and fun learning environment.

The new nonprofit plans to create a new board of directors with members transferred from the Detroit Science Center and new members, said Shelly Otenbaker, senior vice president of Eisbrenner Public Relationsand a director on the science center board.

The Michigan Science Center is working to secure funds to reopen the museum.

As reported by Crain’s in February, GM, Ford Motor Co. and Penske Automotive Group Inc. would have either contributed money or would have been receptive to helping the science center. And the Ford Motor Co. Fundopenly said that he and the automaker continue to be the science center’s main supporters.

Stephens was also leading meetings with Detroit-area foundations, seeking support to reopen the center, sources said. Crain’s.

He reportedly outlined a plan that returns the science center to its core business of operating the museum alone and not its for-profit subsidiary, Eekstein’s Workshop LLCwho did business under the name of Detroit Design and Exhibitions and Detroit Science Center design and exhibits.

The plan Stephens and others presented to the foundations in February called for about $4 million to reopen the museum on its own and get it through this year. Future operations would be bolstered by about $2.5 million in annual donations that typically return to the museum each year, sources said.

News of the resolution of the science center’s debt problem follows similar news last week from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra which said it had settled its $54 million debt with a bank syndicate.

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