McMinnville, OR — A deal reached Thursday appears to plot a course out of the financial turbulence that’s dogged the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville since last year.
Evergreen Vintage Aircraft, a for-profit company that owns the nonprofit museum’s real estate and 25 of the planes displayed there, filed for bankruptcy last year, throwing the museum’s future into question.
But the museum has worked out a deal to buy those assets in a partnership with The Collings Foundation, an aviation history nonprofit, and an individual named George Schott. A bankruptcy court judge approved the sale on Thursday, said Kevin Mannix, an attorney for the museum.
The $22 million purchase price would be used to pay off creditors and settle several pending local cases, including the bankruptcy. The museum would get a new 20-year lease on the buildings and 16 of the planes as part of the deal.
“In the end, this is a great deal on all sides,” said Nicholas Henderson, a bankruptcy attorney representing Evergreen Vintage Aircraft said on Wednesday. “Everyone’s working together to make sure the museum stays intact.
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