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Contact: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or 800-340-6131
kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Public access to Ohio history jeopardized by State budget cuts
(FREMONT) – The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center and the people it serves stand to lose big if the state budget proposed by Governor Ted Strickland passes. Strickland's most recent budget outlines a reduction in funding for the Hayes Presidential Center from $452,490 to $281,043 - an almost 40 percent decrease in one year!
If the Governor's proposal goes into effect, the public's access to Ohio's premier presidential facility -and the nation's first presidential library - will be severely impacted.
"With such a substantial loss in funding the Hayes Presidential Center will be forced to decrease its hours of operation, reduce an already minimal staff, and suspend community and educational programming," said Executive Director Thomas Culbertson.
The Hayes Presidential Center already operates with 10 percent less state funding than it received a year ago and receives no federal funds for operations. Yet, the facility has not increased admission fees, reduced hours of operation, or canceled popular programs. It has been able to maintain this tenuous status quo through the generosity of individual and business donors and by aggressively pursuing grants.
However with the potential loss of half of its state funding in the upcoming fiscal year, drastic measures will be necessary.
"In the last few years, we have reduced our full-time staff from 22 to 17, yet continued seven-day-a-week operation. A budget reduction of 48 percent in two years will force the Hayes Presidential Center to limit its hours of operation and, out of necessity, cut back components of its educational programming," Culbertson said. "We ask people, from children to senior citizens, to consider what such a loss would mean to them and to act. It takes less than a minute to express your opposition to this radical budget cut using the Ohio Historical Society's website."
The web address is http://capwiz.com/ohiohistory/home/.
Culbertson stresses that immediate action is imperative. The 2010 state budget will be enacted on June 30.
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center is located at the corner of Hayes and Buckland avenues, Fremont, Ohio. The facility is affiliated with the Ohio Historical Society. Call 800-998-PRES or visit www.rbhayes.org.
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