Arizona Centennial Museum fantasy?

The Arizona Centennial Commission and the Arizona Centennial 2012 Foundation have now posted “The Centennial Plan” as of June 1, 2011 on http:// www.az100years.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Centennial-Plan_6-01_STAFF-UPDATE.pdf

The new 58 page document does two things:

1.      First, it upgrades the centennial museum to the centerpiece of Arizona’s centennial celebration, per the following quote  from page 6 (bold italics added):

In collaboration with the State of Arizona and the Arizona Historical Society, the centerpiece of the Centennial is the Arizona Experience Museum. Designed with the idea that Arizona’s past will lead us to our future as a state, the new museum will raise the bar for museum experiences in Arizona and is destined to become an attraction for residents and visitors alike. (June 2011 – September 2012)

2.      Second, it redefines the period of the centennial celebration. Previously, centennial planning followed the logical and customary schedule of a series of preliminary events culminating in a centennial celebration on the states100^th birthday in February 2012.  Now, the celebration is redefined as a series of events extending through 2012.  This is an obvious ploy to disguise the fact that the centennial museum, the “centerpiece” of the celebration, can never be open by the centennial.

Exactly what supports the assumption that the centennial museum (AKA Arizona Experience Museum) will open in 2012, or that it will ever open?  Two years of fund raising produced less than 10% of the required $15.75 million.

If the centennial museum is going to be built, where is the money coming from? Are state funds now being diverted to the centennial museum?

In her February 2010 presentations and press release, the Governor promised that “no public funds” would be used for Arizona’s “birthday gift”.

Is she breaking that promise?