National D-Day Memorial reduces million-dollar debts

by Heather B. Hayes
for Virginia Business
May 2006

When the National D-Day Memorial was unveiled in Bedford on June 2001, the euphoria was short-lived. Within a few months, officials announced that the nonprofit foundation running the memorial had accumulated nearly $6 million in debt. The organization eventually had to endure the fraud and perjury trial of its first president, Richard Burrow, file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and work out repayment schedules with creditors. (Charges against Burrow were dropped after two trials ended in hung juries.)

Not quite five years later, the foundation, under the direction of new President William McIntosh, has nearly wiped out its debt load, paying off $5 million and owing a total of just $564,000.

What have been the keys to achieving this feat? Many of the same virtues associated with D-Day itself: volunteerism, selflessness, team work and a very clear goal. “We’ve had tremendous broad-based support from civic organizations, veterans organizations and the community as a whole,” says Liz Bryant, a spokeswoman for the D-Day Memorial Foundation. The organization’s willingness to make the public aware of the debt, she notes, was critical. “People are just really excited to be part of the effort.
“We get everyone from large corporate donors to veterans who send in checks that they really can’t afford to school groups who have been very enthusiastic and creative in their fund-raising efforts.”

Last fall, a major construction loan came due and with it the threat of a $400,000 assessment penalty, but the foundation was able to avoid the penalty by obtaining a loan from the Bank of the James. The debt restructuring not only provided more favorable repayment terms, but also lifted restrictions on new spending outside of operations and education.

On Memorial Day, a bronze sculpture of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (who as a general was commander of the D-Day invasion) will be available for public viewing. It will be housed inside a concrete gazebo-like structure in the English Garden. The new items, funded with a grant from a private foundation in Richmond and matching funds from the D-Day Memorial Foundation, will be the first significant construction at the site since the memorial was dedicated in 2001.