Here is NCM Excutive Director Wendell Strode's response to Nick Leonardi (NCRS # 6022 and a New England Chapter member) I hope that more members will send their e-mail directly to Wendell and let him know how you feel.
As the New England Chapter Chairman, I ask our members to express their feelings regarding the NCM decision to permanenty remove the NCRS display by e-mailing Mr Strode directly.
Dick Capello
Mr. Strode, I feel that it is outrageous that the NCM has chosen to remove the NCRS display permanently.
Has the NCM forgotten what NCRS has done for the museum since its inception and how much support it has received from NCRS over the years!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas Leonardi (NCRS 6022).
As the New England Chapter Chairman, I ask our members to express their feelings regarding the NCM decision to permanenty remove the NCRS display by e-mailing Mr Strode directly.
Dick Capello
Mr. Leonardi,
Executive Director
CorvetteMuseum.com
The Gateway To All Things Corvette
Thank you for taking your time and emailing me direct. I assure you that we have not forgotten the role that NCRS had since its inception...........or even before. Please permit me to share with you some thoughts.
The mission of the NCM has not changed from what it was when it was originally incorporated by the NCRS. So what we are about is exactly what we have always been about. When I came to the NCM December 20, 1996, the Museum was $12 million in debt; unable to meet payroll; unable to get any credit from any suppliers with the exception of Mid-America; any relationship the Museum had with any entity was marginal at best and mostly it was all negative. This included the Assembly Plant; GM/Chevrolet; Corvette organizations, clubs and enthusiasts; the local Bowling Green community and the Corvette media. The Museum's creditors had issued a foreclosure letter as the NCM was in default on all of its debt and was generating about 58 cents for each $1 needed for debt service. The banks had given the NCM until December 31, 1996 to make some significant changes that included written documentation of a turnaround plan.
Almost no one or no entity wanted to partner with the NCM because of their past experiences and/or an expectation that any future involvement with the NCM was going to be very embarrassing to them as the Museum with its financial position was going to be forced to closed its doors.
Anyone that knows anything at all about the NCM knows that without increasing the revenue to the NCM the doors would have been closed in January 1997. Our March 27th, 1997 we finally obtained a written waiver from the banks (three of them) concerning the default on the Museum's debt and gave us the remainder of the 1997 calendar year to show in real numbers significant improvement in revenue and expenses were to remain flat or decrease.
My point in sharing all of this with you is to hopefully help you understand that increasing revenue was never an option. It was mandatory or the NCM would have ceased to exist.
Three very good NCM supporters that are also NCRS members emailed me this afternoon and suggested that I check out the posts that were being done on the NCRS website. I did and wanted to respond personally to all of the comments and concerns that were being expressed. I was unable to do so. I decided to send Roy Sinor a Lifetime Member of the NCM and someone that I got to know in April 1997 and someone that I consider a friend..........to send Roy some comments and ask him to post it on the website. Hopefully, sometime tonight or tomorrow Roy will do so. Below is the email that we sent Roy.
I would be happy to any comments/concerns/questions you have with regard to the NCM. When we went to the NCM the prior management had not shared any information with any of its members, especially any financial information. My very first day when the Corvette media asked us about sharing information and what would be our position we stated that we would gladly share information as our role is one of serving as steward for the members of the Museum. Our position has not changed so if you or anyone has any questions or wants to see any financial information concerning the NCM, we have always shared that when asked. BTW, when we went to the NCM, there were 1,620 and it was declining weekly as no one was joining and most current members were not renewing. Today, we have over 29,000 members and over 20,000 memberships.
Again, thanks for emailing me direct and let me know if you have any more comments/concerns after you have read my email to you and the one to Roy.
Roy,
Three members from NCRS have emailed me to check out all the posts being made on the NCRS website. I did so. I was not able to post to the site and with you being the one I know best, I decided to email you. If you think it would help you have my permission to post them.
First of all the entire atrium area is the main part of what will be "remodeled" and expanded as a display area. Everything in the atrium area will be removed as we move along with the construction of the building addition (47,000 square feet) and certainly as we get to the point of incorporating the building addition into the existing museum structure and the remodeling of the 17,000 square feet of existing museum. Again, the entire atrium as we know it today will be completely changed and at some point in the construction/remodeling phase everything will be removed from there.
Does this mean that the NCRS exhibit/display as we know it today will be permanently removed? Yes!
Nothing about this should be a surprise to anyone. Numerous presentations have been to the NCM Board; to attendees at several of our events; to anyone visiting the NCM as we had the drawings up on an easel; and to any clubs/chapters that would invite us to come to one of their meetings and share with them information on the building addition.
What we cannot communicate to either the NCRS or NCCC is the exact type of display that will surface after the building addition and renovation is completed. We can and have disclosed the exact location. We cannot communicate the other because we simply do not know at this point in time.
Since I have been the Executive Director of the NCM, we have never had a Curator on staff. We have had considerable help from members of the NCM and especially the NCRS in answering questions that are presented to us; in obtaining cars for exhibit/display and for any other assistance that has been needed.
We have been advised by several of our members that we should bring on board a full-time Curator to handle the exhibits/displays for the NCM and to be an on-site resource for Corvette enthusiasts.
We will either employ a full-time Curator for that very purpose or we will engage a professional design company to assist us with the exhibit/display planning for 2-3 areas of the building addition and remodeled area. The display area for Corvette organizations is one of those targeted areas. We do not think it is a wise decision to tie their hands and their creativity when it comes time to plan that exhibit and display. We want whoever it is to have full range of their creative juices in that planning.
We will of course make sure that they understand the unique role that NCRS has with the NCM and its involvement in the beginning of the Museum. That will be a major influence on the future exhibit/display. We cannot guaranteed the size, how many, if any, of the existing pictures will be used; how much, if any, of the existing footage will be included and quite honestly, I do not think it is fair to the NCM for anyone to expect that.
We absolutely do not want any confusion or any misunderstandings with NCRS or any others. I have volunteered to attend the NCRS board meeting in St. Louis on March 28th to discuss with that board every aspect of this and answer any questions that anyone has. At this point, I have not been invited to do so.
My email address is strode@corvettemuseum.com. The telephone number at the Museum is 800-538-3883 or 270-781-7973 and my extension is 114. Please email me or call me if you have any questions or concerns.
Wendell Strode The mission of the NCM has not changed from what it was when it was originally incorporated by the NCRS. So what we are about is exactly what we have always been about. When I came to the NCM December 20, 1996, the Museum was $12 million in debt; unable to meet payroll; unable to get any credit from any suppliers with the exception of Mid-America; any relationship the Museum had with any entity was marginal at best and mostly it was all negative. This included the Assembly Plant; GM/Chevrolet; Corvette organizations, clubs and enthusiasts; the local Bowling Green community and the Corvette media. The Museum's creditors had issued a foreclosure letter as the NCM was in default on all of its debt and was generating about 58 cents for each $1 needed for debt service. The banks had given the NCM until December 31, 1996 to make some significant changes that included written documentation of a turnaround plan.
Almost no one or no entity wanted to partner with the NCM because of their past experiences and/or an expectation that any future involvement with the NCM was going to be very embarrassing to them as the Museum with its financial position was going to be forced to closed its doors.
Anyone that knows anything at all about the NCM knows that without increasing the revenue to the NCM the doors would have been closed in January 1997. Our March 27th, 1997 we finally obtained a written waiver from the banks (three of them) concerning the default on the Museum's debt and gave us the remainder of the 1997 calendar year to show in real numbers significant improvement in revenue and expenses were to remain flat or decrease.
My point in sharing all of this with you is to hopefully help you understand that increasing revenue was never an option. It was mandatory or the NCM would have ceased to exist.
Three very good NCM supporters that are also NCRS members emailed me this afternoon and suggested that I check out the posts that were being done on the NCRS website. I did and wanted to respond personally to all of the comments and concerns that were being expressed. I was unable to do so. I decided to send Roy Sinor a Lifetime Member of the NCM and someone that I got to know in April 1997 and someone that I consider a friend..........to send Roy some comments and ask him to post it on the website. Hopefully, sometime tonight or tomorrow Roy will do so. Below is the email that we sent Roy.
I would be happy to any comments/concerns/questions you have with regard to the NCM. When we went to the NCM the prior management had not shared any information with any of its members, especially any financial information. My very first day when the Corvette media asked us about sharing information and what would be our position we stated that we would gladly share information as our role is one of serving as steward for the members of the Museum. Our position has not changed so if you or anyone has any questions or wants to see any financial information concerning the NCM, we have always shared that when asked. BTW, when we went to the NCM, there were 1,620 and it was declining weekly as no one was joining and most current members were not renewing. Today, we have over 29,000 members and over 20,000 memberships.
Again, thanks for emailing me direct and let me know if you have any more comments/concerns after you have read my email to you and the one to Roy.
Roy,
Three members from NCRS have emailed me to check out all the posts being made on the NCRS website. I did so. I was not able to post to the site and with you being the one I know best, I decided to email you. If you think it would help you have my permission to post them.
First of all the entire atrium area is the main part of what will be "remodeled" and expanded as a display area. Everything in the atrium area will be removed as we move along with the construction of the building addition (47,000 square feet) and certainly as we get to the point of incorporating the building addition into the existing museum structure and the remodeling of the 17,000 square feet of existing museum. Again, the entire atrium as we know it today will be completely changed and at some point in the construction/remodeling phase everything will be removed from there.
Does this mean that the NCRS exhibit/display as we know it today will be permanently removed? Yes!
Nothing about this should be a surprise to anyone. Numerous presentations have been to the NCM Board; to attendees at several of our events; to anyone visiting the NCM as we had the drawings up on an easel; and to any clubs/chapters that would invite us to come to one of their meetings and share with them information on the building addition.
What we cannot communicate to either the NCRS or NCCC is the exact type of display that will surface after the building addition and renovation is completed. We can and have disclosed the exact location. We cannot communicate the other because we simply do not know at this point in time.
Since I have been the Executive Director of the NCM, we have never had a Curator on staff. We have had considerable help from members of the NCM and especially the NCRS in answering questions that are presented to us; in obtaining cars for exhibit/display and for any other assistance that has been needed.
We have been advised by several of our members that we should bring on board a full-time Curator to handle the exhibits/displays for the NCM and to be an on-site resource for Corvette enthusiasts.
We will either employ a full-time Curator for that very purpose or we will engage a professional design company to assist us with the exhibit/display planning for 2-3 areas of the building addition and remodeled area. The display area for Corvette organizations is one of those targeted areas. We do not think it is a wise decision to tie their hands and their creativity when it comes time to plan that exhibit and display. We want whoever it is to have full range of their creative juices in that planning.
We will of course make sure that they understand the unique role that NCRS has with the NCM and its involvement in the beginning of the Museum. That will be a major influence on the future exhibit/display. We cannot guaranteed the size, how many, if any, of the existing pictures will be used; how much, if any, of the existing footage will be included and quite honestly, I do not think it is fair to the NCM for anyone to expect that.
We absolutely do not want any confusion or any misunderstandings with NCRS or any others. I have volunteered to attend the NCRS board meeting in St. Louis on March 28th to discuss with that board every aspect of this and answer any questions that anyone has. At this point, I have not been invited to do so.
My email address is strode@corvettemuseum.com. The telephone number at the Museum is 800-538-3883 or 270-781-7973 and my extension is 114. Please email me or call me if you have any questions or concerns.
Executive Director
CorvetteMuseum.com
The Gateway To All Things Corvette
From: Nicholas Leonardi [mailto:nalnjl@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:55 PM
To: Wendell Strode
Cc: Dick Capello
Subject:
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 5:55 PM
To: Wendell Strode
Cc: Dick Capello
Subject:
Mr. Strode, I feel that it is outrageous that the NCM has chosen to remove the NCRS display permanently.
Has the NCM forgotten what NCRS has done for the museum since its inception and how much support it has received from NCRS over the years!!!!!!!!!!!
Nicholas Leonardi (NCRS 6022).
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