Members of the Greensboro City Council will get an update Tuesday afternoon about the downtown Civil Rights Museum. Leaders in Greensboro were upset to learn late last week that part of a loan they approved was paid out before a written agreement went into place. The city council agree d last fall to provide the Civil Rights Museum with a $1.5 million loan.
The museum has lost money each year since it opened. Greensboro provided $750,000 in October of last year, but loan agreement was finalized. Some city council members are now asking how that happened, if they can ask for that money back, and whether the other half of the loan should be dispersed over the next year and a half. As part of the still-not-finalized-agreement the museum must provide audits and a plan toward improvement. An audit from 2012 was provided earlier this month, five weeks after its initial deadline, and some council members have questions about museum expenses. Yesterday the museum board approved self-guided tours for visitors, following years of criticism over the requirement of a tour guide. That measure should take effect in 60 days.