Indian Museum Funds Clear Senate
Oklahoma Senate approves $40M for Indian museum
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A planned Native American museum along the banks of the Oklahoma River that has become a shuttered, unfinished curiosity in the state’s capital city received a $40 million boost on Tuesday from the Oklahoma Senate.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 30-17 for a plan to take the money from the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund to help complete the sprawling American Indian Cultural Center and Museum at the crossroads of Interstates 35 and 40, south of downtown Oklahoma City. Legislators first proposed the museum in the mid-1990s, and construction began seven years ago, but the project has been plagued by mismanagement and cost overruns.
“It has been a boondoggle since day one,” said Sen. James Halligan, R-Stillwater, who voted for the bill. “We are trapped in this circumstance.”
The state already has spent $64 million through three separate bond issues to help pay for the project, which also has received funding from Oklahoma City and the federal stimulus. The additional $40 million approved by the Senate on Tuesday would be used to match another $40 million that has been pledged to complete the project.