Historic Ft. Ticonderoga losing financial battle

Ft. Ticonderoga, one of the nation’s oldest and most significant historic sites, is so financially strapped that its trustees are considering selling off some of its vast collection of artifacts, including artwork believed to be worth millions.

The move comes after the fort lost the support of billionaire Forrest E. Mars Jr. amid disagreements with Ft. Ticonderoga’s longtime executive director, Nicholas Westbrook.

Besides being a privately owned tourist attraction operated as a not-for-profit, Ft. Ticonderoga is also a state-chartered museum. Such charters are granted by regents who must approve any sale of artifacts or artwork.

Peter Paine Jr., the new president of the board of trustees for the Ft. Ticonderoga Assn., sent a memo last month to board members outlining the financial crunch and listing several options to try to erase about $2.5 million in debt. Among them was closing next year and selling “Gelyna, View Near Ticonderoga,” painted by Thomas Cole after he visited Ticonderoga in the 1820s. Other Cole works have sold for more than $1 million.

Ft. Ticonderoga, a National Historic Landmark, played a key role in North American history from its construction by the French in 1755 through the American Revolution, when it changed hands three times.

The bloodiest battle of the French and Indian War was fought there 250 years ago, and Benedict Arnold, along with Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, famously captured the fort from the British in 1775 without firing a shot.

Now, shaky finances -- not warring nations -- threaten one of the United States’ earliest tourist destinations. Annual attendance declined by 33% from 2001 to 2007.

The drop-off in attendance had been countered by millions of dollars in support from by Forrest Mars, former chief executive of Mars Inc. and heir to the family’s candy fortune, and his wife, Deborah, who is president of the fort’s board of trustees.

With museums everywhere scrambling for benefactors of any kind, the fort had a big home-field advantage: Deb Mars was born in Ticonderoga.

But in February, Forrest Mars sent an e-mail to Westbrook, telling him that the couple would no longer support the fort.