Petersburg closing museums due to budget issues

Jamieva

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That means the Siege museum, Blanford and Centre Hill Mansion. Siege museum closed last year for a major renovation but according to the article basically nothing has been done because the contractors were not paid. Petersburg is in big, big financial trouble. They nearly had trash service cut off last week.
 
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http://www.richmond.com/news/local/...cle_7af7da8e-3036-544c-83bf-8b4c8270f332.html

That means the Siege museum, Blanford and Centre Hill Mansion. Siege museum closed last year for a major renovation but according to the article basically nothing has been done because the contractors were not paid. Petersburg is in big, big financial trouble. They nearly had trash service cut off last week.
Major bummer. I was planning a return trip to Petersburg next year and the Siege Museum and Blandford Church and Cemetery were on the itinerary. The Siege Museum was closed in January when I was there. Poplar Grove National Cemetery was closed too. Just heartbreaking.
 
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http://www.richmond.com/news/local/...cle_7af7da8e-3036-544c-83bf-8b4c8270f332.html

That means the Siege museum, Blanford and Centre Hill Mansion. Siege museum closed last year for a major renovation but according to the article basically nothing has been done because the contractors were not paid. Petersburg is in big, big financial trouble. They nearly had trash service cut off last week.
They gotta understand something. If they start closing those places down,how are they gonna attract visitors like me? They gotta understand something else. We stay at local hotels,eat at local restaurants etc.
 
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There has been a move by cities and states to cut spending by moving their historical sites from 100% funding by the government to the historical sites part self funding or full self funding. Basically the tax base shrink or citizens insist on tax cuts and governing units must find a way to cut spending. Citizens through their elected officials have determined that history is not important enough to fund and less tax dollars must be sent on history. Citizens have come to the conclusion that historical sites must find new ways to self fund.
 
Citizens have come to the conclusion that historical sites must find new ways to self fund.
What happens to Petersburg when the historical sites close?
 
By reading the article it seems that it costs the tax payers $27 per visitor to the museum. Each visitor's must spend enough that the city gets $27 back in taxes or the city loses money. The city also need to take in to account the costs associated with the lost jobs at the museum and any jobs lost by the drop in visitors. These calculations are hard to make. 11,000 visitors per year may or may not be worth the tax dollars.
 
By reading the article it seems that it costs the tax payers $27 per visitor to the museum. Each visitor's must spend enough that the city gets $27 back in taxes or the city loses money. The city also need to take in to account the costs associated with the lost jobs at the museum and any jobs lost by the drop in visitors. These calculations are hard to make. 11,000 visitors per year may or may not be worth the tax dollars.
As I stated above though,visitors stay in local hotels and eat at local restaurants too etc. They are about to close 2 of the historical sites that were part of the reason I was planning a return trip to Petersburg next year. Probably not now.
 
There has been a move by cities and states to cut spending by moving their historical sites from 100% funding by the government to the historical sites part self funding or full self funding. Basically the tax base shrink or citizens insist on tax cuts and governing units must find a way to cut spending. Citizens through their elected officials have determined that history is not important enough to fund and less tax dollars must be sent on history. Citizens have come to the conclusion that historical sites must find new ways to self fund.


I don't think citizens have the vaguest idea this is what their elected officials intend, which is part of the problem. We're all so disconnected- our national parks and historical sites are just kind of expected to be there. There's just been a lot of publicity on this big anniversary, not a peep on the struggles within.

If any of those officials ran for office under a campaign heading stating " If elected, I'll make it my business to de-fund historical sites ", none of them would be elected. They do not or, of course, bring this stuff up during all the glad handing and promises made those ridiculous months. Someone may get elected by promising to ' cut taxes ' but no one has bothered ascertaining this means cutting historical site holes in our landscape. We really should not have to- this would mean trusting elected officials. Unclear how that would work.
 
I know this may sound off the wall but Kroger has a community rewards program and I donate to the Georgia Battlefields Association through that. Any nonprofit can sign up for it. Basically every time a shop part of the money goes through the program and my prescriptions are there so.

I never knew about this... just signed up also!
 
I think if history education was better people would be far more interested in history and be far more willing to pay more taxes to fund such places.

Around here we are cutting education funding for all schools. If your school does not test well in math, reading or science then your schools get addition funding cuts to punish the school. Note history is not one of the subjects being tested. Why would a school put much of their falling educational money in to teaching history?
 
This is really sad. The elected officials in Petersburg have been so incompetent and reckless it's borderline criminal. I feel badly for the citizens there, but of course they've been electing these jokers all this time. There is a move afoot to de-incorporate Petersburg as an independent city and just fold it in to Chesterfield County, but Chesterfield doesn't want that mess on its balance sheet.

Wish there was a "Bill and Melinda Gates for Civil War Sites" who could step in and save these museums from the politicians, but it doesn't seem likely.
 
Around here we are cutting education funding for all schools. If your school does not test well in math, reading or science then your schools get addition funding cuts to punish the school. Note history is not one of the subjects being tested. Why would a school put much of their falling educational money in to teaching history?

It's very sad.
 
This is really sad. The elected officials in Petersburg have been so incompetent and reckless it's borderline criminal. I feel badly for the citizens there, but of course they've been electing these jokers all this time. There is a move afoot to de-incorporate Petersburg as an independent city and just fold it in to Chesterfield County, but Chesterfield doesn't want that mess on its balance sheet.

Wish there was a "Bill and Melinda Gates for Civil War Sites" who could step in and save these museums from the politicians, but it doesn't seem likely.

Yup the state tried to force Chesterfield to take over the failing schools in Petersburg and Chesterfield said no thanks. It's not allowed under the state constitution for the state to just take schools from a city and give them to someone else.

Petersburg has also done a poor job of promoting these 3 sites too.
 
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