Slavery museum led by Wilder files for bankruptcy

Past coverage of the slavery museum

Credit: TIMES-DISPATCH

L. Doulgas Wilder promoted his idea for a U.S. National Slavery Museum at a gala in...

Credit: JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH

A sculpture garden was developed as a first step toward a slavery museum in...

By: Zachary Reid | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: September 22, 2011
Updated: September 22, 2011 - 2:24 PM

The United States National Slavery Museum led by ex-governor and former mayor L. Douglas Wilder has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The action Wednesday would allow the proposed museum to reorganize and regroup free from pressure from its creditors -– and would also put an end, at least temporarily, to the possibility that its land will be sold.

In documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, the museum claimed to have more than $3 million in unsecured debts. In the filing, the museum indicated that after bankruptcy proceedings, no funds would be available to creditors.

The museum’s biggest asset is its land, 38 acres along the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg. The land is valued at $7.6 million, but the parcel has significant deed restrictions and liens from creditors. The city has been trying to sell it to collect back taxes.

The property tax liability, from 2009-‘11, is more than $215,000 and growing, said City Treasurer G.M. “Jim” Haney.

In July, the city gave the museum 30 days to pay the bill under threat of selling the property. The bill wasn’t paid, Haney said, and the city listed the property for sale in August.

“No one verbally has stepped forward,” he said, but he pointed out the liens as a possible complication to any sale.

He said he expected the museum to pay its bill by Wednesday, which was the last day before the city could proceed with a sale. Instead, it filed for bankruptcy.

“[Bankruptcy] is a field all to itself,” he said. “We’re just waiting it out now.”

Telephone messages left for Wilder; the lawyer who filed the bankruptcy, Sandra Robinson of Richmond; the city manager in Fredericksburg; and officials with the two largest creditors, Lexington Design & Fabrication in Los Angeles and Clark Construction in Bethesda, Md., were not immediately returned.

The museum has been embroiled in controversy almost from its outset. Once planned for Richmond, it was ultimately located in Fredericksburg in 2002 when the city offered the land.

The museum was pegged to be a highlight of a “Celebrate Virginia” complex just off Interstate 95 at the state Route 3 interchange. The venue hosts musical performances -– country crooner Kenny Rogers is playing Friday night -– but the museum never materialized, though a sculpture garden was installed as a first step.

The museum was supposed to open by 2004 but was never able to raise sufficient funds. No work on the site has been done since 2007. Last year, the museum failed to update its filing with the state that allows it to legally solicit donations.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)