ConsultEcon Management & Economic Insight

Museums are important to a community’s cultural, educational and economic well being.  ConsultEcon is proud to be a member of the museum community and provide market, economic, business and planning services to create successful new museums and support existing museums to remain economically vital while maximizing community benefits, mission achievement, and their market potential.

 

Specialty

Mechanical Music Museum:  Duncanville, Texas
Prepared a market and feasibility study for a proposed museum based on a private collection of mechanical musical instruments. This work included an evaluation of the market context and operating potential for the project, as a basis for the City of Duncanville to make planning decisions about proceeding with the project.
 

Stories Project:  Coralville, Iowa
Evaluated the market and operating potential of the Stories project to be located on the 25-acre site in Coralville, Iowa.  Stories will be a major multi-faceted national destination themed environment.  It will feature aspects of literacy, reading and literature, as well as a writers' hall of fame.  It will also include entertainment, recreational, retail, and restaurant elements.  Our work included an initial evaluation of the overall concept, project components and an initial program of spaces that balances development costs, achieving project critical mass and optimum space utilization.  The initial market support potential analysis that was also prepared will inform further project planning.  Later, we prepared an initial operating and feasibility review for the emerging project concept.
 

Clinton Sawmill Heritage Experience:  Clinton, Iowa
Conducted a museum feasibility study based on preliminary interpretive concepts, project sizing, programming and conceptual capital costs.  This work was designed to assist with organizational planning and fundraising, and also to help refine the planning and design process, as the outcomes of the market and operations plan are a key input to the building program and physical sizing of the museum.  Site selection was a critical aspect of this study.  This study provided essential components of the project’s initial development and business plan.
 

Water Discovery Center:  Arkville, New York
Evaluated the feasibility of developing a Water Discovery Center in the central Catskill Mountains, the source of water for the City of New York.  This work included evaluation of market potential and project feasibility assessment.
 

Toy Museum:  Providence, Rhode Island
Evaluated the market potential for the development of a new attraction or set of attractions in the city of Providence’s downtown core.  We proposed the development of the Toy Discovery Center, a toy-themed educational attraction that would appeal to children and their families and reflect Rhode Island’s toy making tradition.  We also evaluated the market support and operating potential of the Toy Discovery Center, including optimal project sizing, development and operating costs, attendance projections and funding strategies.
 

Long Island Wine Country Visitor Center:  Greenport, New York
This project estimated visitation to the Long Island Wine country on the eastern end of Long Island, New York, and evaluated marketing approaches and alternative operating and management models for a visitor intercept strategy. The visitation forecast supported an analysis of the feasibility of a visitor interpretive center.
 

U.S. Mint Visitor Center:   Washington, DC
As part of a project team, we evaluated the market and financial feasibility for this new museum in Washington, D.C.  This museum, located at the headquarters building of the U.S. Mint, highlights economic and monetary history.
 

Equine Museum at State Fair of Virginia:  Doswell, Virginia
ConsultEcon prepared market and operating studies to inform the plan for expansion of the Equine Museum in Doswell, Virginia. This work included a preliminary set of operating pro formas, a review of comparable museum benchmark operating experience, and a description of the likely economic performance characteristics of the Equine Museum, including admission fees and related revenue potential, non-earned revenue requirements, and operating expenses.