Historical Commission Moves Forward with Plans for Nonprofit Group to Support Mansion

Farmington Historical Commission members voted Thursday to form a nonprofit organization that will support the city-owned Governor Warner Museum.

Commission chair Laura Myers said research on grant writing revealed that most donors prefer to give to an organization with a 501(c)3 status, which means the contributions are tax-deductible.

"Any museum has a 'friends' organization, and that's generally the organization people can give their tax-deductible donations to," Myers said. The idea would not be to create a new group, but to provide a structure for current museum volunteers, she added.

"When you're applying for foundation grants, this structure is critical," City Manager Vince Pastue agreed. "There's a lot of merit to it."

Pastue said that if successful, such an organization could provide an opportunity to wean the museum off the financial support provided by the city, which is currently around $45,000 annually.

The Victorian Italianate home, built in 1867 by Farmington pioneer P.D. Warner, was donated to the city of Farmington in 1980 by the grandchildren of Gov. Fred M. Warner, Michigan's only three-term governor (1905-1910), who was adopted as by P.D. and his wife, Rhoda, when he was 3 months old.

"I will run this past City Council," Pastue said. "I don't see any problem with that."

City attorney Tom Schultz will be approached to work on the 501(c)3 application.

The Historical Commission also voted to authorize up to $1,000 from the existing Friends of the Mansion fund to cover costs. That is one of about a dozen separate accounts attached to the museum that are currently under the city's control.

Pastue noted one drawback: When nonprofit groups become very successful, conflicts sometimes arise over management. However, in some cases, that has led to a positive outcome, as with the Detroit Zoo, which is technically owned by the city of Detroit but has been operated by the Detroit Zoological Society since 2006, he said.

The next step, Pastue said, is to bring a formal resolution authorizing the nonprofit application to the City Council.