British Museum Hit by Budget Shortfall

The British Museum, one of the world’s great collections of art and artifacts, is facing a budget crisis that could see exhibitions canceled and expansion plans frozen.

The museum, a hive of historical research and home to priceless ancient treasures, warns that the cumulative impact of Britain’s foot-and-mouth disease crisis, terrorist attacks in the United States and the British government’s funding policies could lead to even more dire restrictions.

“It’s a serious financial situation that needs to be addressed, and it’s going to affect the services and activities that we currently offer,” museum spokesman Paul Dove says.

Struggling with a $4.4-million shortfall, administrators say that a shifting government attitude toward the museum’s prized policy of free admission has exacerbated the budget crunch.

Museum chief Suzanna Taverne said in a statement last week that the state-owned institution annoyed the government in the past by refusing to charge admission. But when other museums later took the same free-access route, the government gave them additional funds to replace lost fees while refusing retroactive aid to the British Museum.

“The result is that we were penalized twice,” she said. “First, we lost the admission we would have earned by charging. Now, to add insult to injury, we are missing out on a payoff which could be worth some $11.7 million to us.”

The Department of Culture counters that the budget crisis is due to operating cost overruns on the museum’s Great Court, the centerpiece of a $147-million renovation completed last year.

A departmental spokesman said the government would work closely with the museum to help it through its budget problems, stressing that free admission is unlikely to be threatened.

So tourists will still enjoy free access to treasures such as the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian sarcophagi and sculptures from the Greek Parthenon. But Dove warned that nothing could be considered sacred if budget shortfalls continue for the long term.

“That principle [of free admission], which has always been dear to our hearts, can’t simply be taken for granted,” he said.

Although it does not make money from a visitor walking through the door, the museum counts on gift shop and concession sales to meet costs. The December opening of the Great Hall saw British visitor numbers shoot up by 50% and catering and retail income double. But that was not enough to compensate for an overall fall in visitors and “a persistent erosion of the public support,” a museum statement said.

Immediate cost-cutting plans include suspension of a $117.6-million study center, slashing museum maintenance by $1.47 million and freezing staff recruitment.

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www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/