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Idea to send: |
| Topic | Future of Oklahoma's Families & Tourism |
| Content | Small towns across Oklahoma have abandoned retail stores with no viable short-term prospect for sale or meaningful lease.
A community could bargain with a structurally sound facility of sufficient size and good location to obtain a long-term leasehold and provide bona fide tax credit for value of the lease to obtain nearly free use of the building.
The same approach could even more effectively be used for larger and valuable commercial structures in the suburban and metropolitan areas, providing for tax credit to building owner for duration of the "free" leasehold, with a short notice to quit provision. That would mean a million dollar building that is setting vacant at this time could earn the building owner tens of thousands of dollars in legiitmate tax credits for providing a free leasehold to the non-profit group, all the while providing the non-profits will evacuate the structure in relatively short, e.g. 60 days, period if the building is sold.
The non-profit tenant would necessarily provide liability insurance holding building owner harmless for any damages.
A further provision could be negotiated so that the lease agreement would provide that as certain necessary improvements are made by the non-profit tenant that would enhance the building for its ultimate use by buyer, the non-profit group could raise the funds (also tax-deductible to donors), pay for the improvement and then when the building is sold to the 3rd party it be provided the non-profit group would be reimbursed at time of closing.
Here is what I suggest be the use of these buildings:
INTERACTIVE MUSEUMS, DEPICITING BIBLICAL LANDS TOPOGRAPHY, STRUCTURES, CULTURAL FACTS.
Imagine a three dimensional map of the Mediterranean sea that shows with LED lighting effects each of apostle Paul's journeys, with head-sets for visitors that tells about what happened at each of his visited communities.
Or, suppose you had historically accurate models of the temple in Jerusalem.
How about the travels of Abram from Ur to the west into Palestine and down into Egypt.
What about the Roman coleseum, the jursidictions of the 12 tribes, the travels of Jonah, the parting of the Red Sea, the Olive Garden, great battle scenes, the Masada, Babylonian exile routes . . . the list goes on and on.
Now, suppose that instead of a gigantic museum that tried to capture hundreds or thousands of locations and scenes of Biblical adventure and history, instead various communities each took on this concept. It might take a few years for the first half-dozen to be created. . . but the process could continue for decades.
We could have intra-state tours that go from community to community to visit many of these Bible Land Museums, each with a similar format, but different geographic area depicted.
Of course churches and others would want to be involved and it would be important that no church or other group dominate or possess one of these museums.
Instead, it would be a place that people from across the country, perhaps from around the world, would trek to learn more about the terra firma spoken of by the texts that guide both Jewish and Christian believers. It should also be attrative to secular historians and perhaps Muslim students who share common interest in the historically geographic areas.
An umbrella non-profit group should be formed to promote the concept, much like the Main Street Oklahoma umbrella that guides but does not dominate or restrict local Main Street entities.
The museums would appropriately vary from participating town to town, but have a generic "sameness".
This would all begin with the formation of a task force with involvement by Biblical scholars, architects, tax attorney, museum curators, and a host of others. |
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