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Issue: 1108 Date: 11/17/2011
Become A Fan, Like St. Louis Chinese American News
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St. Louis Science Center names new president
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| Bert Vescolani has been named the new president and CEO of the Saint Louis Science Center, replacing Doug King. |
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ST. LOUIS - After a 10-month search, the St. Louis Science Center today announced that it has hired a new president and chief executive, Bert Vescolani.
Vescolani has been director of the John Ball Zoological Gardens, a publicly owned zoo in Grand Rapids, Mich., since 2005. Before that, he was a senior vice president of the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
In a prepared statement released by the center, Vescolani said he was excited to begin work in St. Louis.
"The St. Louis Science Center's commitment to science education, its award-winning programs, plans to modernize its permanent exhibits, and goal of staying ahead of the rapidly advancing fields of science and technology provides a strong foundation on which to build the institution's future," he said in the statement.
Vescolani is "a talented and experienced non-profit executive," said Ted Hellman, chairman of the center's board of commissioners, in a prepared statement.
Vescolani replaces Douglas King, who left the center in December to take a job at Seattle's Museum of Flight.
A news release from the John Ball Zoo credits Verscolani with boosting attendance and revenue, renovating and adding exhibits and expanding education programs.
Science Center leaders in June, while they were in the midst of their search, said they were looking for an executive with a strong background in both science and education. They said they were especially interested in someone with bold ideas for how the institution can use technology to boost its visitors' experience and education programs.
Vescolani's hiring comes after a recent executive shake-up at the institution.
Last month, in the wake of Post-Dispatch stories about bonuses and executive compensation at the Science Center, five vice presidents were demoted to other management positions. The moves were meant to save $400,000 annually. The institution also has ended the practice of paying bonuses to its executives. In addition, the center is trying to slash more than $2 million in spending over the next 18 months.
The John Ball Zoological Garden is owned and operated by Michigan's Kent County. A private non-profit group runs fundraising campaigns, zoo concessions and animal conservation efforts.
The public-private arrangement has proven difficult at times, and some believed that it caused to much duplication of management. In April, the Grand Rapids Press reported that the zoo would re-organize "to streamline operations and eliminate redundancies."
Kent County Administrator Daryl Delabbio hired Vescolani, and he said he's sorry to see him go. "It's definitely St. Louis' gain," he said in a phone interview.
Vescolani came to the zoo at a difficult time for the institution. Months earlier, voters had rejected a mill tax designed to expand and possibly relocate the zoo. Attendance was steady enough, Delabbio said, but there was a perception among many that the zoo was nothing special.
"Bert got out into the community and made himself visible and made the zoo visible, "Delabbio said. "He started a series of minor facelifts that were inexpensive, but had great curb appeal (and) attendance went up."
Delabbio continued, "If you go to the zoo now and compare it to what it was seven yearsago, it's a completely different experience."
Delabbio said Vescolani also has been instrumental in a reorganization effort aimed at separating the zoo from county government. The goal, Delabbio said, is to make the zoo a private, non-profit institution by 2013.
This year, the zoo's budget is about $4 million, with the county providing about $2.5million and the rest coming mostly from admission and rental fees, the news paper
reported. Under Vescolani's leadership, the zoo averaged about 420,000 visitors, according to the zoo's website.
At the science center, this year's total revenues were projected to be about $26.7 million. The center gets about $10 million from the St. Louis Zoo-Museum District, which collects about $70 million from property tax payers in St. Louis city and county. The center hopes to attract 1.1 million people this year.
The Science Center has not said what Verscolani's compensation will be. Officials were not immediately available for comment. King earned more than $442,000 in 2010, his last year at the center, plus an $86,000 bonus that was paid out this year
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