[meteorite-list] Village Tells Museum To Pay Up For Park Forest Meteorite

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:06 2004
Message-ID: <200304101605.JAA27916_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/south/102syt1.htm

Village tells museums to pay up for meteorite
By Erika Enigk
Daily Southtown (Illinois)
April 10, 2003

Park Forest officials are looking to cash in on a meteorite that fell
through the roof of the village's fire station.

Trustees plan to vote next week on whether to sell the rock to a group
of museums and educational institutions. The group includes the Adler
Planetarium, University of Chicago, Planetary Studies Foundation,
American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Museum of
Natural History.

Village manager Janet Muchnik said the group has offered to pay $8 per
gram for the piece, which weighs 1.2 pounds - making the offered price
$4,358.40.

"We're negotiating to see if it would be a little bit more," Muchnik
said.

Collectors may pay more for the meteorite, Muchnik said, but village
officials said they would rather sell it to an entity that will use the
piece for research and public education.

"The collectors are willing to offer a higher price ... because they
understand the profit they will realize once the rocks have been carved
up into smaller pieces," she said.

In addition, the group of institutions is willing to permit the village
to request the meteorite for periods of time for educational purposes,
she said.

"At least one of these pieces will be immediately placed in display at
The Field Museum as part of a timely exhibit featuring the Park Forest
meteorite fall," said Meenakshi Wadhwa, curator of meteorites at the
museum.

Muchnik said some Park Forest officials and staff members would prefer
the village keep the meteorite. But she said she thinks it will better
serve the village in the museums, rather than on constant display in
the village.

Trustee Bonita Dillard asked if village officials could request that
institutions display a history of Park Forest along with the meteorite
and direct visitors to the village when the piece is on display there.

"We could keep the hole in the roof of the fire department," Mayor John
Ostenburg joked.

Trustee Ron Wilson asked that the money from the meteorite go directly
to the fire department. Muchnik said that is a possibility, but the
money may also go into the village's general fund.

Insurance will cover repairs to the roof, Muchnik said.
Received on Thu 10 Apr 2003 12:05:26 PM PDT