HealthSpace Cleveland to Merge with The Cleveland Museum of Natural History
HealthSpace Cleveland to Merge with The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, January 1, 2007
Cleveland, Ohio … The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Board of Trustees voted overwhelmingly in favor of the HealthSpace Cleveland merger yesterday at a 4 p.m. meeting. The Board of Directors of HealthSpace Cleveland also voted for the merger last night at its 5 p.m. meeting.
Dr. Bruce Latimer, executive director of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, said, “I am pleased to report that both boards approved the terms of the merger, which will send a win-win message out to the community. HealthSpace will stay in University Circle and will be able to increase health education programming for Greater Cleveland school systems and distance learning health programs in other states and beyond. Our Museum, on the other hand, will gain a focus on health education that can be integrated into many of our 12 science disciplines. It’s a natural progression to what we already do and a good fit!”
“Last January, the Board of Directors of HealthSpace Cleveland voted to protect the museum’s endowment and beneficial trusts from the threat of ongoing debt service on its three-year-old building,” said Patricia Horvath, executive director of HealthSpace. This included the sale of the building and a search for new ways to pursue its health education mission.
Latimer said, “HealthSpace officials began discussions about a partnership with our Museum in February, which led to the due-diligence process that was just completed.” The merger takes effect January 1, 2007.
HealthSpace will stay open in its building on Euclid Avenue through December 31st. Under the terms of its agreement with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, which purchased its building earlier this year, HealthSpace’s distance learning programs will continue to operate out of the existing facility.
During the transition, 12 positions from HealthSpace Cleveland will be moved to the Museum of Natural History. The positions are in education, exhibits, development and marketing. Patricia Horvath will serve as a consultant for a six month period.
Key Terms of the Merger
• The two museums will become one institution effective January 1, 2007. The combined organization will operate under The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s corporate structure. HealthSpace Cleveland’s assets and liabilities will transfer to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and HealthSpace’s corporate entity will be dissolved.
• The combined institution will operate as The Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
• HealthSpace Cleveland’s core educational programming continue unchanged and its exhibits will move to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. In the short term, while The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is undergoing its capital renovation, most of HealthSpace’s physical exhibits will either be shown in off-site locations or will remain in storage. In the longer term, education and exhibition teams will integrate health into the Museum’s exhibits.
• HealthSpace Cleveland’s $10.4 million endowment and its $6.8 million in beneficial trusts will remain separate and restricted in perpetuity for use funding health-related programming as the donors of these funds intended. Earned-income from health-related classes will also be restricted to fund health programming.
• Four members of the HealthSpace Cleveland’s Board of Directors will join the Board of Trustees of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and HealthSpace Cleveland’s Board of Directors will become the Health Advisory Board.
• HealthSpace Cleveland’s core education staff will transfer to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the position of Director of Health Programs will be created within The Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
HealthSpace Cleveland, formerly the Cleveland Health Museum, opened its doors in the Prentiss Mansion across the street from the new building at 8911 Euclid Avenue in 1936. It was the first museum of its kind in the country.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History established an Education Department, the second in the United States, in 1921 and opened its doors in the Hanna House at 2717 Euclid Avenue in 1922. The Museum is now located at 1 Wade Oval Drive in University Circle, 15 minutes east of downtown Cleveland. It services over 65,000 students annually. For more information, call 216-425-4544, or visit our web site at www.cmnh.org.