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Discount pass tied to Omaha's birthday
 BY ASHLEY HASSEBROEK
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Happy 150th birthday, Omaha, from your friendly, local museum.
Admission just got 150 cents cheaper.
For the summer, anyway.
 Seven museums and organizations today plan to announce the "Sesqui-Cents
Superpass," a free card that gives museum goers 150 cents off admission
through July 18.
The card can be used up to seven times - once at each of the following
attractions: Joslyn Art Museum; Durham Western Heritage Museum; the
Omaha Children's Museum; the Strategic Air and Space Museum; Fontenelle
Forest, including the Neale Woods Nature Center; the Lauritzen Gardens,
Omaha's Botanical Center; and the Henry Doorly Zoo's Wildlife Safari
near Mahoney State Park. At each attraction, one card is good for one
150-cent discount for one person.
Museum officials hope the pass will increase attendance. They call the
cards a birthday "gift" to Omahans from area museums, said Lindy Hoyer,
executive director of the Omaha Children's Museum.
"We really felt this was something we could do together, a gift we
wanted to give back to our community," she said.
Leaders from the seven organizations began meeting in January to
discuss the possibility of a project to draw more visitors.
"We all felt a lot of pressure on us to build attendance in our
facilities," Hoyer said. "We thought, how could we work together in
what we were doing to help solve this?"
The idea of a group of museums collaborating on a project isn't new. A
number of cities, such as New York and Seattle, have offered membership
reciprocity with many of their leading organizations, where membership
with one gets patrons either free admission or a discount at another.
In preliminary discussions, Hoyer said the group thought of creating a
museum pass to gain admission to the seven attractions. But, he said,
that seemed too risky.
Leaders deemed it more practical to peg their first big project to the
city's 150th anniversary and offer a free discount card.
First National Bank donated $5,000 to help pay for marketing and
printing costs.
Danelle Myer, sales manager for the Lauritzen Gardens, said only 50,000
"Sesqui-Cents" passes are available. Pick them up at area Hy-Vee Food
Stores, Runza restaurants and First National Bank locations.
The pass can be used on general admission at all price levels as well
as special exhibitions, such as the "Titanic" exhibition at the
Children's Museum.
After the project ends, Hoyer said, museum leaders will evaluate its
success to determine if future collaborations are worthwhile.
"This is a pilot for us to work together in even bigger ways in the
future," said Scott Hazelrigg, executive director of the air and space
museum
©2004 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved.
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