Spencer Museum may charge admission

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — The N.C. Transportation Museum, one of the largest tourist attractions in Rowan County, would have to charge admission if the state cuts $1.12 million in funding.

Faced with a projected $3.5 billion budget shortfall next year, Gov. Bev Perdue’s administration is considering deep cuts proposed by various state agencies. One proposal would eliminate state funding for the N.C. Transportation Museum, forcing the free attraction to become self-sustaining.

“We would have to raise that money on our own,” said Mark Brown, public information officer.

The loss of state funding would mean admission fees and other changes at the museum, Brown said. State legislators would have to work out the details, he said.

“There are still a lot of maybes and possibilities that are involved,” he said. “Nothing is in any way set in stone.”

The proposed cuts are the first step in a lengthy process that will culminate sometime next summer when the new Republican legislature passes a budget.

Although the museum has run preliminary numbers, Brown said he could not speculate on how much admission might cost.

It would take time for visitors to accept the idea of paid admission, he said.

“The expectation of locals is that it’s a free museum,” Brown said.

But others are already willing to pay to visit the museum, which features an authentic train depot, antique automobiles and 37-bay roundhouse with 25 locomotives, dozens of rail cars and other exhibits.

“Every day, we also have people coming to the museum, reaching for their wallets and asking what the admission is with an expectation to pay,” Brown said.

Each year, about 100,000 people visit the museum, including 30,000 who come to see Thomas the Tank Engine.

While entrance to exhibits is always free, special events like Thomas cost extra. Brown said that money goes to the N.C. Transportation Museum Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides development and support for the museum.

If the museum loses state funding, it’s not clear whether revenue from special events would continue to go to the foundation or help pay operating expenses for the museum, Brown said.

“Those are some of the details that will be have to worked out,” he said. “There is no clear answer.”

Spencer Mayor Jody Everhart said charging admission to museum would have repercussions.

“Attendance will go down,” Everhart said. “If tourists don’t come to the museum, it will hurt businesses in Spencer and Rowan County.”

The museum shouldn’t have to suffer for budget problems that state legislators created themselves, he said.

A nominal admission fee of a few dollars is acceptable, but nothing more, Everhart said.

“The ones that lost their jobs won’t be able to come,” he said.

Everhart said he plans to ask state senators and representatives to keep the museum free or at least affordable for families.

The museum takes the biggest hit in cuts proposed by the Department of Cultural Resources, Brown said. The museum was singled out because it has the facilities, special events and staff necessary to become self-sustaining, he said.

“We have been moving toward this direction for some time,” he said.

Other museums under the Department of Cultural Resources charge admission, including the USS North Carolina battleship exhibit in Wilmington.

“This is not a new concept in any way, shape or form,” Brown said. “There is a template that we could use to make this as painless a process as possible.”

The decision is months away.

“Either way, we are going to be fine,” Brown said.

Contact Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.