Michigan Science Center officials announced Monday that the DTE Energy Foundation has donated $250,000 to help the institution move closer to re-opening.
Formerly the Detroit Science Center, the museum has been closed for 13 months due to severe financial trouble. In June, Ann Arbor businessman Ron Weiser saved the center from liquidation by agreeing to buy its shuttered building, exhibits and land from Flint-based Citizens Bank for substantially less than the $6.2 million it owed on a defaulted mortgage.
Since then, a reconstituted board of the rechristened Michigan Science Center has been raising money to buy the assets from Weiser for what he paid the bank.
Center spokesperson Shelly Otenbaker said last week that the center was hoping to reopen in time for the holiday season but that nothing would be done until officials were convinced that enough money had been raised and a plan was in place to not only open the doors but sustain the museum for the future.
Other corporations or businesses that have pledged or donated significant resources to the drive to reopen the center include the Ford Foundation, General Motors Foundation, ITC Holdings, Lear Corporation, the Manoogian Fund and Penske Corporation.
Contact Mark Stryker: 313-222-6459 or mstryker@freepress.com
