From: Indigo Nights
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Science and Industry is 3rd museum to cut staff
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By William Mullen
Tribune staff reporter
November 30, 2001
Citing the slowing economy, the Museum of Science and Industry on Thursday announced it is laying off 26 employees, making it the third major Chicago museum to cut staff since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Like the Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium, which also have announced staff layoffs, the Museum of Science and Industry depends on tourism as a significant part of attendance. Since Sept. 11, tourism in Chicago has been down, compounding revenue problems caused by an economy in recession since March.
"It's clear to us that the recession is going to drag on into next year," said David Mosena, the museum's president, after announcing the layoffs among its approximately 360 employees.
"We are going to be on a much tighter budget into next year," he said, "and that is why we had to make these reductions."
The cutbacks came even though the Museum of Science and Industry, like most of the city's major museums and zoos, this month experienced a promising rise in attendance, which had dropped dramatically after the terrorist attacks.
"We had 30,000 people here [Thanksgiving] weekend," said Mosena. "But still, in the overall picture, we're not able to make a trend on the upcoming year's business based on this year's Thanksgiving.
"Our revenues for this year are below projection. We still have revenue shortfalls, and there was no way we could put together a good financial plan for next year . . . without staff reductions."
The museum did not release any specific figures, though its attendance this year has been down considerably from 2000, when it hosted the blockbuster "Titanic" exhibit, featuring recovered artifacts from the sunken ocean liner.
Mosena said the museum actually eliminated 50 staff positions in the layoff plan, though 24 of those already were vacant. The cuts were made in several departments, including finance, marketing, operations and admissions, according to a spokeswoman.
The museum's troubles exemplify the turbulent times most cultural institutions are experiencing, suffering a double whammy of crippled public confidence following the attacks and the economic recession.
Public confidence seems to be on the mend. Lincoln Park and Brookfield Zoos, in particular, with unusually balmy November weather, have had better than average attendance in the last month.
Adler Planetarium, which laid off 10 people this month, and the Shedd Aquarium, which laid off 44 in October, have been experiencing upticks in business since then.
"Our hope is that everything is now on the upswing," said Dawn Kappel, a planetarium spokeswoman. "Perhaps recent world events are making people a little more secure on the homefront."
Finding reasons for confidence in the nation's long-term economic prospects has been more difficult for museums, which rely on corporate, foundation and public philanthropy at least as much as admissions for operation expenses.
"Museums around the country are facing interesting financial threats," said Lonnie Bunch, president of the Chicago Historical Society.
Bunch recently authored an article for a museum industry trade magazine for publication in January titled "In the Shadow of Uncertainty, Museums and the Impact of Sept 11."
"The downturn in the stock market has major implications for museums," said Bunch. "It impacts our endowments."
The terrorist attacks also shifted a lot of America's generosity, Bunch said, from recipients like cultural institutions to families of attack victims.
Copyright (c) 2001, Chicago Tribune
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