If financial stability was a paddle, the Marine Science Center in Poulsbo would once again be up the creek without it. Funding the newly renovated center has been a severe challenge for years and while interest in keeping the MSC open has been strong, ideas on how to do so have been just the opposite.

The most recent call for funds — $50,000, would carry the center through 2004. Then what?

The North Kitsap School District? The district is already paying the lion’s share on the rent at the facility, 75 percent, or $3,000 each month to be exact. Sure, the NKSD is one of the primary users of the center but it’s already taking a huge bite out of the MSC’s costs.

Asking the NKSD board to do more as it faces numerous budgetary challenges ranging from large-scale school renovations and swimming pool cutbacks to planning a new high school, shows a lack of understanding as to how full the district’s fiscal plate is.

Besides, the school board is already leaning toward a “nay” vote and simply shouldn’t be expected to float the MSC any more than it already does.

The City of Poulsbo is serving as landlords in the case and already has a long history with “check’s in the mail” scenarios as far as the Marine Science Society of the Pacific Northwest goes. In light of its continued tight-belt spending habits, the city isn’t likely to take on any of the financial burden, either.

The public and private sectors have and will continue to give to the MSC but can they be expected to shoulder annual costs that will continue to increase each year? Grant options have been a huge help to renovations of the center but what sort of day-to-day expenses can they cover in the long run?

Yes, the MSC is definitely a funding conundrum.

No one wants to see it go under but as far as keeping it afloat for good, no one seems to have any solid ideas. The center has been in dire straits before and navigated them fine but the journey has taken its toll.

It recently lost its long-time Executive Director Michelle Benedict, who helped steer it through these tough times, and now seems awash in a sea of financial doubt.

Whether it will find a port in the storm or end up on the rocks should be determined by 2005. Let’s hope someone has a feasible plan of action in place before then.