SHIPSHEWANA — In 2007 Shipshewana finally had what it had wanted for a long time — a conference center and car museum. Now the goal is to hang on to those attractions.

The Shipshewana Town Center is open, but operating with a smaller staff after the management company hired by the town, Focus Hospitality Services of Sarasota, Fla., walked away from the deal in December. The Shipshewana Town Council is pondering its future.

“We are weighing our options and gathering information right now before we make a decision,” said Town Council member Lynn Bontrager.

Bontrager, like most other town residents, has a financial stake in the tourism trade that the center was designed to enhance. She operates Morton Street Coffee, a small corner shop that on Friday had a few locals tasting the sweets and coffee blends. But when tourism season ramps up in the spring and summer, local merchants like Bontrager rely on that boom to carry them over for the rest of the year.

Town Center

The Town Center was created in 2007 to lure more tourists to Shipshewana, which relies on tourism as its major source of income. Retired industrialist Eldon Hostetler had acquired dozens of historic and elegant Hudson automobiles over his lifetime and wanted to bring them all together for public display. A deal was reached with the Town Council to create the museum to house the collection, which Hostetler donated to the town. The council also created the conference center for the same building.

The center has a large banquet hall that can be subdivided into three rooms. The facility has brought more tourists to town. It has hosted many national and regional gatherings, including an annual quilters convention that draws about 3,500 people to the town each summer.

But the center’s financial health is tied to the success of the adjacent Splash Universe indoor water park and Amish Country Inn.

A $3 surcharge on every ticket sold at the water park is paid to the town to help operate the museum and Town Center. Also, LaGrange County has a 5 percent innkeepers tax. Some of that revenue is given to the town to operate the Town Center.

This symbiotic relationship with Focus Hospitality Services has been working well, as the company has paid its semi-annual allotments to the town, according to Clerk-Treasurer Ruth Ann Downey. In 2011 the company paid the town $191,070.

Museum closed

The Hudson Museum has been closed temporarily, according to Sheryl Kelly, Shipshewana’s town manager. She said the management issue occurred at the same time as a need for replacement of the tile floor in the museum, so the decision was made to close the collection to daily public viewing so the repairs could be made.

“The museum is still open in association with events,” she said.

She said three of the five former staff members have been kept on and are being paid through a “third-party vendor.” Staff at the center said that vendor is Riegsecker Marketplace, which does much business at the center catering special events, including wedding receptions.

“If there is a silver lining in all this, the town is not concerned about making mortgage payments on the building,” Kelly said, adding State Farm holds the mortgage and has been contacted about the change in management. “We are just looking for the transition in how we are going to manage the facility. That is basically what is changing. The commitment has not changed, just the management.”

What has added to the angst in the community is the fact that Focus Hospitality Services owes LaGrange County almost $800,000 in back property taxes. The water park and hotel will be up for its second tax sale this spring. (See accompanying article).

“A lot of people make the mistake that the problems at the hotel mean problems at the convention center and museum and that is not necessarily true,” Kelly said. “We have nothing to gain by their demise. We do everything we can to help them and not hurt them. We want them to be successful in Shipshewana. We would not want to see anything drastic occur to the hotel.”

Attempts to contact Focus Chief Executive Officer Jerry Good were unsuccessful.