Museum Says It Will Continue Operations As Long As Possible

The Evergreen Space Museum and the Wings & Waves water park will be sold November 30 in a foreclosure auction on the steps of the Yamhill County, OR courthouse, according to Yamhill County Sheriff Tim Svenson. The sheriff has received a writ of execution from the Yamhill County Circuit Court allowing the sale to go forward.

The Yamhill Valley News Register reports that the writ was issued after the court found that the museum and water park's owner, the nonprofit Michael King Smith Education Foundation, has not made payments on $1.9 million in debt to their builder, Hoffman construction of Portland.

Hoffman prevailed in a foreclosure suit against the foundation last year, but the sale was postponed in an effort to negotiate an out-of-court settlement.

When those talks failed to produce an agreement, Hoffman obtained the reinstatement of the judgement.

The museum, however, says it hopes to put off the sale. Attorney Jay Goffman, a member of the foundation board, issued a statement saying that the foundation is "working with all parties to try to resolve this matter consensually. The Michael King Smith Foundation intends to preserve its assets for the best interests of the entire community. We are dedicated to the long term future of McMinnville and we are confident that, with everyone’s effort, a positive solution can be achieved for all.”

On its website, the museum posted a statement saying that "the Foundation is a separate entity that owns buildings on the Museum Campus including the Space building, chapel and the Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark.

"The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is an independent non-profit organization. Museum Management is actively working on solutions to address this situation with the landlord. Visitor count at both the Museum and Waterpark is strong, and the Museum is profitable. We will continue to operate as usual and look forward to welcoming our guests."

(Images from file)

FMI:  http://evergreenmuseum.lvapp.ne