Museum doubles as special events host

A local museum that serves as an educational facility by day is making a name for itself as a destination for after-hours business and social events.

The American National Fish & Wildlife Museum Wonders of Wildlife, located at the corner of Campbell Avenue and Sunshine Street, averages about four or five special events each month, according to Clayton Brown, sales coordinator for the museum.

"Some months October, November, December being our biggest influx of people we could have anywhere from five to 10 (events) during those months," Brown said

Brown said there's no set fee schedule for special events cost varies according to size.

He did note, though, that the price to rent all or part of the facility varies on a seasonal basis, with the rates being lower during the summer season.

The revenues

Funds from rental of the WOW facility for special events goes into the museum's operating budget, according to Fred Marty, executive director of the museum.

For 2002, Marty said, WOW has budgeted $62,847 of its $5.2 million operating revenues to come from special event facility rental.

Year-to-date, special event rentals have brought in $26,800, which Marty said is on track considering that the busiest months will comel later in the year.

"We're still trying to feel our way on how big a contributor to the overall picture this will be," Marty said.

Operations funds also come from admission fees to the museum, Marty added. Other revenue comes from the city's hotel/motel tax, sales tax, a stipend from the Missouri Department of Conservation and gift income.

Events

The pharmaceutical industry is the most frequent user of the museum, Brown said. However, according to Kelli Snyder, a professional health-care representative with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Inc., that won't be true in the future because of new rules that went into effect July 1.

What the company used to do, Snyder said, was to bring in doctors both local and from out of town and have a dinner and an event. She said Pfizer did three events at Wonders of Wildlife in about six months.

"Recent changes in the pharmaceutical industry now will no longer allow us to have an event," Snyder said.

"Several pharmaceutical companies had done events through Clayton there, and it was wonderful, because it was just like renting Wonders of Wildlife, and they were able to bring their families and spouses and all of that," she added.

Other events, including wedding receptions, birthday parties and corporate events such as banquets, board meetings, award ceremonies and employee appreciation dinners also have been held at the museum, including the Springfield Business Journal's 2002 40 Under 40 event held April 25.

Brown said all types of events are allowed at the museum, but the use of live plants for decorations is limited to protect the live animals.

Rental areas

Special events at the WOW museum can be held in several areas that are available for rent. The facility's 5,000-square-foot upper-and-lower lobby is available for rent. The upper lobby has a banquet space that can accommodate a sit-down dinner for as many as 150 people.

Another area available is the 2,500-square-foot Out to Sea Gallery. This area can accommodate a sit-down dinner for as many as 100 people, and the gallery room is backlit by the 220,000-gallon saltwater aquarium. Brown said the Out to Sea Gallery includes the lower community pond and a tropical coast gallery.

The smallest area available to rent is the 320-square-foot Heroes of Conserva-tion Hall, which can accommodate parties of 30 people or less for dinners, cocktail parties or board meetings.

From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the museum is open 9 a.m.- 8 p.m. For the rest of the year, the museum is open 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Special events generally are held after the museum closes, but Brown said during the months when the facility is open until 8 p.m., event areas can be blocked off to allow functions to start earlier.

"Typically, we like to have them afterwards because with all of our rental areas, you get the whole museum. So the party can mingle throughout the whole museum and we'll have volunteers stationed throughout so it's exclusively theirs," Brown said.

Companies and individuals can rent a particular area at the museum, and still be able to tour the museum, or they can rent the entire facility for themselves and use all available rental areas for their own activities. More than one special event can be held at the same time, Brown said, but when that happens, tours are limited to exclude areas where events are taking place.

Catering

The museum doesn't have its own catering staff, Brown said, but it does have a list of approved caterers who can handle food for special events at WOW.

"There's about 15 or so caterers and the reason we have them on our list is that they have a liquor license, and we have a copy of their liquor license," Brown said.

Both Marty and Brown expect that use of the museum for special events will increase as more people become aware of the possibility.