$100K for ruby slippers? Minnesota lawmakers put seed money into acquisition of Dorothy’s footwear
Minnesota lawmakers are primed to put some green toward a possible acquisition of the ruby slippers of “Wizard of Oz” fame.
A bill now staged for final House and Senate votes earmarks $100,000 in dedicated sales tax proceeds to help with a possible purchase of the famous shoes. The pot of money it would be drawn from is devoted to efforts to preserve or promote aspects of Minnesota’s historical legacy.
The slippers were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids in 2005, but were recovered in 2018. FBI officers returned them to their owner in February. They could be put up for auction later this year.
The amount that would go for the shimmering footwear worn in the film by Dorothy, played by Minnesota native Judy Garland, is half of what Senate lawmakers committed in a broader environment and cultural heritage plan earlier this year.
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Lawmakers would set the money aside to “facilitate negotiations” for the purchase of the slippers for the Minnesota Historical Society. There is an expectation the seed money would be combined with “available state funds” and non state sources to acquire the shoes, which would be put on public display at the Grand Rapids museum.
Their estimated value is around $3.5 million so it’s not certain the state’s buying power would get all the way down the — wait for it — yellow brick road.
The grant is a tiny sliver of the $230 million that makes up the Legacy Finance proposal, which also encompasses funding for outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, the arts and other historically significant programs.
Passage of the bill is expected in the coming days.
Other items of note include:
$20 million for prairie restoration efforts around the state.
$32 million for forest and habitat protection.
$38 million for wetland protection and mitigation.
$101 million for other aquatic rehabilitation programs, including those that deal with invasive carp in the Upper Mississippi River.
$25 million for a slate of clean water programs around minimizing nitrates in drinking water, monitoring pollution and preserving lakefront shorelines.
$5.7 million for arts education and access initiatives.
$300,000 to help move the Justus Ramsey Stone House to the Jackson Street Roundhouse.
$200,000 to help the Minnesota Humanities Center commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.