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Posted on Tue, Nov. 09, 2004
Minnesota History Center to begin charging fees
BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press
Don't know much about history?
It will soon cost you to learn about it at the Minnesota History Center museum.
Faced with budget cuts, the Minnesota Historical Society has decided to start charging admission fees for history center exhibits, announced Lory Sutton, the society's head of marketing and communications, on Monday.
The fees will be $8 for adults; $6 for people older than 65 and college students; and $4 for children ages 6 through 17, Sutton said. Children younger than 6 will be admitted free.
Those are the same fees charged at the society's three most popular sites: Fort Snelling, Split Rock Light House and the Mill City Museum. Most of the society's 25 sites and museums charge fees.
The society hasn't decided when it will start charging the new fees, but it won't be before Jan. 1, Sutton said.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature have cut state subsidies to the society by about $5 million since 2001, she said. That has forced it to lay off staff, reduce the operating hours of programs, and cut services. The society also has closed one historic site, the Lower Sioux Agency museum in southern Minnesota, where the first battle of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War took place.
"Times are tough right now, and we're looking at every possible way that we can take action on our side to make sure that we're still providing services to the people of Minnesota," Sutton said.
The fee will allow the society to keep the history center exhibits open longer. Currently, they close at 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. After the new fees take effect, the exhibits will stay open until 5 p.m. those days, Sutton said.
About 270,000 people visit the museum each year, including busloads of schoolchildren. Sutton said the society would look for corporate sponsors or community groups to subsidize visits for low-income school groups.
But if the fees prevent children from visiting the exhibits, "it would deny them a window into their past. I'd hate to see that," said historian Rhoda Gilman, a former society editor and research fellow and author of a recently published biography of Minnesota's first governor, Henry Hastings Sibley.
"We all deplore the shrinking and shriveling of our educational and cultural institutions," she said. "Minnesota has always been proud of them."
State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, blamed Pawlenty for the new fees. "They're obviously a consequence of the governor's budget," he said.
"I'm not happy to learn about the fees, but it's not a surprise, given the untenable position they're in," Cohen said. "The governor and the Legislature were warned that this was a possible consequence of (the budget cuts) last year."
Pawlenty was not available for comment.
Before the society decided to charge fees, its staff tested the idea on focus groups of citizens. "We found that people who have been to our museum love it and think it's terrific that it's free," Sutton said. "They see it as a real gift to the people of the state and a wonderful educational experience, as well as a fun one."
The focus groups generally were willing to pay to keep the museum open and not cut its programs or services, she said.
Admission will remain free to other parts of the history center, including the library, store, cafe and historical society staff offices.
State subsidies to the society cost each Minnesota resident $4.23 a year, Sutton said. "We think it's a good deal. That's the same amount as a 5-pound bag of Pillsbury flour or a package of Old Dutch potato chips."
MINNESOTA HISTORY CENTER
Location: 345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Attendance: About 270,000 people go the History Center every year (in comparison, the Science Museum attracts about 1 million annually)
Admission will be: $8 for adults; $6 for persons over age 65 and college students; $4 for children ages 6 through 17 (no charge for children under 6)
Start date for new fee: Sometime after the end of the year
Current admission: Free
Other museum prices: Mill City Museum and Science Museum of Minnesota (without a ticket to the Omnitheater) charge $8 for adults and $6 for children; Minnesota Children's Museum charges $7.95 for those older than 1; Minneapolis Institute of Arts is free
Minnesota History Center to begin charging fees
BY BILL SALISBURY
Pioneer Press
Don't know much about history?
It will soon cost you to learn about it at the Minnesota History Center museum.
Faced with budget cuts, the Minnesota Historical Society has decided to start charging admission fees for history center exhibits, announced Lory Sutton, the society's head of marketing and communications, on Monday.
The fees will be $8 for adults; $6 for people older than 65 and college students; and $4 for children ages 6 through 17, Sutton said. Children younger than 6 will be admitted free.
Those are the same fees charged at the society's three most popular sites: Fort Snelling, Split Rock Light House and the Mill City Museum. Most of the society's 25 sites and museums charge fees.
The society hasn't decided when it will start charging the new fees, but it won't be before Jan. 1, Sutton said.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Legislature have cut state subsidies to the society by about $5 million since 2001, she said. That has forced it to lay off staff, reduce the operating hours of programs, and cut services. The society also has closed one historic site, the Lower Sioux Agency museum in southern Minnesota, where the first battle of the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War took place.
"Times are tough right now, and we're looking at every possible way that we can take action on our side to make sure that we're still providing services to the people of Minnesota," Sutton said.
The fee will allow the society to keep the history center exhibits open longer. Currently, they close at 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. After the new fees take effect, the exhibits will stay open until 5 p.m. those days, Sutton said.
About 270,000 people visit the museum each year, including busloads of schoolchildren. Sutton said the society would look for corporate sponsors or community groups to subsidize visits for low-income school groups.
But if the fees prevent children from visiting the exhibits, "it would deny them a window into their past. I'd hate to see that," said historian Rhoda Gilman, a former society editor and research fellow and author of a recently published biography of Minnesota's first governor, Henry Hastings Sibley.
"We all deplore the shrinking and shriveling of our educational and cultural institutions," she said. "Minnesota has always been proud of them."
State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Richard Cohen, DFL-St. Paul, blamed Pawlenty for the new fees. "They're obviously a consequence of the governor's budget," he said.
"I'm not happy to learn about the fees, but it's not a surprise, given the untenable position they're in," Cohen said. "The governor and the Legislature were warned that this was a possible consequence of (the budget cuts) last year."
Pawlenty was not available for comment.
Before the society decided to charge fees, its staff tested the idea on focus groups of citizens. "We found that people who have been to our museum love it and think it's terrific that it's free," Sutton said. "They see it as a real gift to the people of the state and a wonderful educational experience, as well as a fun one."
The focus groups generally were willing to pay to keep the museum open and not cut its programs or services, she said.
Admission will remain free to other parts of the history center, including the library, store, cafe and historical society staff offices.
State subsidies to the society cost each Minnesota resident $4.23 a year, Sutton said. "We think it's a good deal. That's the same amount as a 5-pound bag of Pillsbury flour or a package of Old Dutch potato chips."
MINNESOTA HISTORY CENTER
Location: 345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday
Attendance: About 270,000 people go the History Center every year (in comparison, the Science Museum attracts about 1 million annually)
Admission will be: $8 for adults; $6 for persons over age 65 and college students; $4 for children ages 6 through 17 (no charge for children under 6)
Start date for new fee: Sometime after the end of the year
Current admission: Free
Other museum prices: Mill City Museum and Science Museum of Minnesota (without a ticket to the Omnitheater) charge $8 for adults and $6 for children; Minnesota Children's Museum charges $7.95 for those older than 1; Minneapolis Institute of Arts is free