Friday, March 07, 2003
Agreement expected to help D-Day foundation out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Memorial, creditors agree on plan

The D-Day foundation will pay off $3.8 million in the next five years as part of the agreement.

By JAY CONLEY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   BEDFORD - The National D-Day Memorial Foundation and its two largest creditors said Thursday they've agreed to a payment plan that will bring the nonprofit foundation out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

    Under the agreement, the foundation will pay off $3.8 million to its 40 creditors over the next five years.

    At a news conference at the memorial, foundation president William McIntosh said Coleman-Adams president Clif Coleman and Roanoke architect Byron Dickson - who are owed about $2.9 million - will sign the agreement once the legal documents are completed by the foundation's attorney, Roanoke lawyer Rich Maxwell.

    Coleman's construction company was the main contractor of the $25 million project. Dickson designed the memorial.

    "This is a proud day for the foundation," McIntosh said.

    The foundation filed for bankruptcy protection in November, which allowed the nonprofit organization 120 days to work out a deal with its creditors.

    The settlement must still be approved by all of the foundation's creditors. Maxwell said he will ask a Lynchburg bankruptcy judge to approve a conditional agreement as soon as possible so the foundation can begin paying its debts. Maxwell said about 30 creditors who are owed less than $6,000 each will be paid first.

    As part of the agreement, none of the balance owed will be subject to interest initially, but any debt remaining after 30 months will be subject to 8 percent interest, retroactive to August 2002.

    McIntosh said he was confident the foundation will raise $1.5 million in the next year and a half. He announced the names of some philanthropists from Richmond and Northern Virginia who've agreed to help the foundation with fund raising. One of them, John Shannon, is the former capital campaign director of the World War II Memorial.

    "Our focus is the completion and stabilization of the National D-Day Memorial," McIntosh said.

    Coleman and Dickson, who haven't received any money in a year, appeared relieved that 10 months of litigation had come to an end.

    "It hasn't been easy for us to carry this debt," said Coleman. "We'll get our money over time."

    "It's a pleasure to endorse this monument and come out of the abyss of this," Dickson said.

    The foundation, however, still must cope with negative publicity from the fraud trial of former foundation president Richard Burrow. Soon after the memorial was dedicated on June 6, 2001, Burrow resigned. The foundation found itself $5 million in debt and sought a legal investigation of its financial records.

    Federal prosecutors indicted Burrow on four fraud charges, saying he lied to banks and the state of Virginia to obtain millions of dollars in loans to build the memorial.

    Burrow's trial in December ended in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial. Prosecutors will go to court March 17 to request more time to decide whether they will retry Burrow.

    Coleman said his company has been affected the most by the foundation's inability to pay its bills, but he doesn't hold Burrow responsible.

    "I wish they'd let Richard Burrow alone," he said. "He worked his tail off up here."

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