As a former Shedd employee with numerous friends affected by this action,
perhaps I can shed (oops!  sorry) some light.

Due to its corporate culture, The Shedd depends on attendance to fund
operations to a greater extent than most institutions its size.

The Shedd had been experiencing financial difficulties for several months.
(How much is due to poor attendance and how much is due to poor management
is a subject of some debate.)

There's a fairly widespread feeling that blaming the events of 9/11 is at
best misleading.  This has been in the works for some time.

My reports indicate that the figures cited (44 employees, 16% of the
workforce) are low.

I also heard on the news today that attendance at the Smithsonian is down
by 50%.

-- Eugene Dillenburg

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