Oklahoma Jazz Hall : Insurance Debts Paid or Not?

The shaky finances of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame seem to be attracting more attention than the museum itself.

Executives at the nearly 30-year-old Tulsa nonprofit have sternly denied that the museum was in dire straits over the past several years – even as an insurance check bounced and the museum hustled to make last-minute payments for critical things like electricity and other insurance premiums.

Money troubles again became a focus last week, with the jazz hall scrambling to pay about $11,200 on a past-due workers’ compensation insurance premium to State Farm and nearly $3,000 to Tulsa County for property insurance. Meanwhile, some elected officials said they were disappointed the museum was again late in settling its obligations.

“It’s frustrating when they appear to have a chronic problem of not being able to pay their bills in a timely fashion,” County Commissioner John Smaligo said in an interview.

The recent debts were enough to prompt an acknowledgement of the precarious situation from James Goodwin – the museum’s attorney – who called on devotees of jazz music to donate money so the privately funded facility can keep its doors open. Goodwin said the shortfalls were due to a general downturn of support for arts and humanities programs, not mismanagement.

“Nobody’s talking about this, but this is not a money-making proposition,” Goodwin said.

Jason McIntosh, the executive director of the hall, has repeatedly blamed politicians for airing their grievances in public instead of working with his board of directors to resolve any financial complaints.

He said more pressure has been put on his museum since it moved into the Art Deco-style Union Depot building in 2007 because it’s a prime piece of real estate he says officials want access to.

Voters set aside nearly $4 million under a capital improvement campaign to buy and refurbish the former train station for the jazz hall. In return, the hall is responsible to the county for roughly $20,000 a year in property insurance and downtown assessment fees, McIntosh said. The hall’s budget this year is about $380,000, McIntosh said in an interview.

“If we were in a strip mall, nobody would care, but there’s a lot of interest in this piece of property,” McIntosh said. “There are folks out there who love to throw bombs. We buy the wrong toilet paper and we get a negative story.”

But County Commissioner Karen Keith disputed the accusation about the property. She said the county wants the hall to flourish where it is because the historic property serves as a bridge between the redeveloped and booming Brady Arts District nearby and downtown.

“We want it to work,” Keith said. “There really isn’t a good rebuttal to that because it’s so ludicrous.”

The museum has a history of making late payments. In 2012 it had to raise more than $75,000 in expenses or face eviction from the depot building. Last year, it was late paying downtown assessment fees and property insurance.

Goodwin, the attorney, said he hoped discussing the museum’s recent financial issues prompts more residents to pledge support.

“I hope people who love jazz will step forward,” he said. “It’s a nonprofit organization the entire society has benefited from.”