MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) – This month a judge could hear the case of a trust fund established by the founder of the now-closed Enchanted World Doll Museum, a castle-like building across from the Corn Palace in Mitchell.
The museum’s board wants to give about $250,000 in trust fund money to the United Federation of Doll Clubs, which operates a doll museum in Kansas City, Mo.
Dennis Padrnos, a Mitchell lawyer who represents the museum board, said CorTrust Bank – which manages the trust fund – wants to give the money to the South Dakota Community Foundation’s Mitchell Area Charitable Foundation Endowment Fund.
The trust fund was set up by the late Eunice Thomas Reese, who founded the museum with her then-husband, Sheldon F. Reese.
Padrnos said Mrs. Reese left instructions about the trust fund.
“In the event the doll museum ceases to exist,” Padrnos said, paraphrasing a trust document, “the trustees shall distribute the accumulated principal and income of the trust to such corporations, trusts, community chests, funds or foundations having a similar purpose or mission as the Enchanted World Doll Museum.”
The United Federation of Doll Clubs is similar to the former Mitchell doll museum, Padrnos said.
None of the 36 organizations that get funds from the Mitchell Area Charitable Foundation fund have a mission or purpose similar to that of the former doll museum, he said.
The attorney said he doesn’t know why the bank wants the foundation to receive the money.
The court documents are filed in Beadle County, where the trust was created.
The museum’s closing was announced early in 2008, with officials citing low attendance and high expenses. Since then, the museum board has sold the building and some of the dolls. Dolls are still being sold, and plans call for donating any leftover money to charity.
Meanwhile, the former doll museum’s new owner, Otinel Iancu of Banning, Calif., says setting up an international food court in building has been put on the shelf due to the sour economy.
Iancu said he visited Mitchell during a vacation in August and saw the for-sale sign on the doll museum. Courthouse records show he paid $120,000 for the building.
Iancu said he wanted to create a restaurant complex, featuring different kinds of international foods.
“The financials have stopped me at this time,” Iancu told the Daily Republic. “It’s still a dream, but not right now.’
“I will need to wait for some time before we see what happens with this economy. But in my mind, in my plans, I’m still working on that.”
The doll museum operated for 17 years.
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Information from: The Daily Republic,
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com
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AP-WS-01-11-09 1105EST