Upcoming budget cuts

[Pat Carry]

How are the inevitable budget cuts going to affect operations at museums like the Natl Museum of the USAF, Natl Museum of Naval Aviation & at thew NASM? Will restorations continue? It seems that at the NASM restorations have been proceeding at a very slow pace recently so I'm wondering when the ax falls will the restorations there cease altogether.

[51fixer]

How are the inevitable budget cuts going to affect operations at museums like the Natl Museum of the USAF, Natl Museum of Naval Aviation & at thew NASM? Will restorations continue? It seems that at the NASM restorations have been proceeding at a very slow pace recently so I'm wondering when the ax falls will the restorations there cease altogether.

They have put a ton of money into the facilities that have been built over the last ten years. They will also take quite a bit to just maintain those new facilities along with beefed up security these times bring.
I would see those impacting their resources quite a bit.
I would also see admission cost being introduced or increasing. I'm unsure whether there currently is any admission fees at this time.
It will be a tough time in the coming years depending on how serious the government is to arrest the debt.

[mustangdriver]

NMUSAF attendance is up. Not sure if it is from people not taking the bigger vacations, and sticking to road trips or what.

[Zachary]

That's an interesting question! Hey Chris, how many of the folks involved in restoration work at the NMUSAF are paid staff, and how many are volunteers? Who does the bulk of the work? It seems as though many organizations have a dedicated group of core volunteers that do the bulk of restoration work, with paid staff overseeing everything. Just an observation, and not necessarily true of all places. I wouldn't see why a down economy would effect static restorations too much, IF indeed the bulk of the work is done by volunteers.

Zack

[mustangdriver]

Don't quote me but I think I remember the numbers being 30 paid, and 70 volunteers. It has been a while since I saw for sure though. We were just talking about the fact that the museum has been so busy. The museum has the Vietnam Gallery under reconstrction. and have several restorations underway including
B-17F Memphis Belle
B-17D Swoose
A-25 Shrike
A-1H Skyraider
along with the XC-99 waiting right behind them. These are no small ticket items to restore.

[Pat Carry]

Hey Chris, I'm curious as to why the museum's restoration page hasnt been updated in awhile. Any particular reason that you know of?

[tulsaboy]

51fixer,

There was some discussion by the Smithsonian about introducing admission costs (since it is all currently free), but there was some intense opposition to the concept on Capitol Hill (something about the amount of funding the taxpayers already provide, and how it should be free for visitors). I believe that AAA and some of the other vacation/travel-oriented groups were pretty firmly opposed to it as well, as it would hurt travel to the DC area. I think that it is a concept that will continue to come up, as the Smithsonian is faced with the demands of the American public for an incredibly high standard of museum at little-no cost for visitors (taxpayer assistance aside.) With the huge budget cuts looming, I think that it will eventually happen.

kevin