Saved By the Bell
CAPE CANAVERAL (Orlando Business Journal) -- The company operating the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has stepped up to the plate and into the financial quagmire that is Space Camp. The Astronaut Hall of Fame shares space with the troubled summer camp, which owes a Birmingham bank $10 million. Space Camp’s troubled finances raised the specter of the Hall of Fame’s “priceless collection of memorabilia being carved up by collectors or returned to the families,” says Rob Varley, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism. Now, Delaware North Parks Services of Spaceport Inc. has purchased the Astronaut Hall of Fame and agreed to lease the building “for the foreseeable future,” according to a written statement from the management company. Delaware North says it will make the Hall of Fame an official part of the KSC attraction. Space Camp may not be so lucky. “We’re currently exploring the possibility of one day running a program similar to Space Camp,” says Delaware North President Rick Abramson.
CAPE CANAVERAL (Orlando Business Journal) -- The company operating the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has stepped up to the plate and into the financial quagmire that is Space Camp. The Astronaut Hall of Fame shares space with the troubled summer camp, which owes a Birmingham bank $10 million. Space Camp’s troubled finances raised the specter of the Hall of Fame’s “priceless collection of memorabilia being carved up by collectors or returned to the families,” says Rob Varley, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism. Now, Delaware North Parks Services of Spaceport Inc. has purchased the Astronaut Hall of Fame and agreed to lease the building “for the foreseeable future,” according to a written statement from the management company. Delaware North says it will make the Hall of Fame an official part of the KSC attraction. Space Camp may not be so lucky. “We’re currently exploring the possibility of one day running a program similar to Space Camp,” says Delaware North President Rick Abramson.