ShowMe Aquatics & Fitness

On Sunday, December 19^th, you may have seen an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch that discussed certain aspects of ShowMe Aquatics & Fitness' efforts to build the Freedom Center over the last 11 years. There is no doubt that it has been an ambitious undertaking, and one that we feel absolutely compelled to see through to completion. We are proud of our accomplishments and proud of the thousands of people we have helped through our groundbreaking programs in water based therapy, rehabilitation and fun. We are thankful to our many partners through the years, such as the YMCA, Rainbow Village, DDRB, and others who have helped make our programs feasible. We remain confident that one day, through continued hard work and tenacity, we will realize our dream of constructing a barrier free facility so that all may enjoy the freedom of movement, regardless of age or ability.

With regard to Mr. Schlinkmann's Post-Dispatch article, we are disappointed that he turned down repeated offers to meet with ShowMe staff, board members and clients to get a better-rounded picture of what we do and why it matters to so many people. We also feel it important to advise all of our supporters and friends of some inaccuracies in the article, especially troubling because our staff spent considerable time answering detailed business and financial questions from Mr. Schlinkmann. Finally, we want to provide background and context for many of ShowMe's decisions through the years. This context is crucial to an accurate understanding, and also sadly lacking from the Post story.

ShowMe land acquisitions and moves – At our inception, the first piece of ground on Frieden's Road was determined early on to be too small to meet the needs of a full-blown community center. We then acquired a piece of ground in WingHaven next to MasterCard. From there, we sold that ground and purchased the former Noah's Ark site at the request of the City of St. Charles, in pursuit of collaborating on a joint facility. ShowMe was left holding onto the ground when the City changed their mind on collaborating. When talks and discussions resumed with the City of St. Charles years later, we purchased the former Kmart site, again at the City's request when they decided they did not want to build it at Noah's Ark. After the collaboration was called off a second time due to the recession, ShowMe continues to own the Kmart site and has made no determination on whether to sell or hold onto the site.
HUD Grant Notification – We were informed by Mr. Schlinkmann during the writing of his story that he had spoken with HUD officials who claimed that ShowMe should have notified HUD of our sale of the Noah's Ark ground and subsequent Kmart ground purchase. This is the first we have ever heard of this, and we have thoroughly reviewed our contract documents with HUD and believe we remain in full compliance. We are in contact with HUD at this time, to ensure that we remain in full compliance with the terms of the contract.
Patrick Banger Consulting – The Post story infers that the Banger consulting agreement with Show Me was somehow questionable. This preposterous claim is not only false, but we fear it will have a chilling affect on the ability of small not-for-profits like Show Me to attract quality people with needed skills. If playing by all the rules and devoting your time to a cause you believe in can lead to such ridiculous claims in the press, why would people even bother? In fact, it is a very common occurrence in charities around the region and nation to have full time staff, and paid consultants who are dedicated to the mission also serving on the Board of Directors. As for Patrick, he has been on the board of ShowMe since 2005, and has always been an active supporter of our mission and efforts. He has given greatly of his time over the years, and worked tirelessly in 2006 and 2007 in a volunteer capacity to help negotiate the cooperative development agreement and land sale to Whittaker who then sold to Cullinan. In 2008 when ShowMe and the City of St. Charles came back together to collaborate on a joint facility, he once again stepped forward to volunteer his time to help negotiate the deal and structure the necessary documents. Once it became apparent just how much time was being spent in doing so, along with a request by the City of St. Charles of ShowMe to provide the manpower for all Owner/Agent activities for the design and construction of the $40 million dollar project, the Board of Directors approached Patrick with the consulting proposal. In the determination of the ShowMe Board of Directors, there was no one better suited with the right government and construction background to handle the work. With the full advice and consent of ShowMe's 501c3 attorney, the Board of Directors met, discussed and unanimously passed a motion to extend a consulting offer to Patrick. The Board also requested Patrick to stay on the Board due to the nature of the agreements with the City and the Oversight Committee that was formed to handle this collaboration. Only board members from each organization were allowed to sit on the Oversight Committee Board and it was critical that he be a part of it. The result of his work was the successful negotiation and passage of 3 necessary documents for the collaboration: the cooperative development agreement, management agreement and ground lease. He also handled the competitive solicitation and selection of the architect, engineers and construction manager and helped guide the preconstruction and design process which reduced the estimated price for the Freedom Center by over $3 million dollars. The fee offered to Patrick was a significant savings of the 2-3% owner agent fees ($800,000 - $1,200,000) typically charged for this type of work.
Better Business Bureau – Mr. Schlinkmann uses the BBB's program and guidelines in his article as a basis to judge ShowMe's expenditures through the years. He also makes reference to our non-participation in their voluntary program. We informed Mr. Schlinkmann that ShowMe was unaware of their program and adheres to practices that are in line with our mission and goal of building the Freedom Center. For sake of discussion, the years in which ShowMe was under the 65% guidelines established by the BBB can be directly attributable to additional costs incurred by the organization for the Freedom Center collaboration efforts.