Pamplin Historical Park Announces Change in Operations

Effective January 2, 2009, Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Dinwiddie County, Virginia will be open by reservation only. Guests wishing to visit the Park may do so by making a reservation forty-eight hours in advance. Admission fees for non-members will be $100 for a group […]

December 1, 2008; 7:13 PM • by brenda p

Effective January 2, 2009, Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Dinwiddie County, Virginia will be open by reservation only. Guests wishing to visit the Park may do so by making a reservation forty-eight hours in advance. Admission fees for non-members will be $100 for a group of up to ten people, and $10 per adult for groups of more than ten. Park members may make reservations twenty-four hours in advance with no minimum numbers and no admission fee.

The Park will continue to offer all reservation-based programming as usual, including its popular school field trips, battlefield tours, Annual Symposium, Civil War Adventure Camps, Summer Teacher Institutes, and History Day Camps.

“The severe economic downturn has undercut the ability of the Pamplin Foundation to support the Park at current levels,” said Pamplin Historical Park President, A. Wilson Greene. “We deeply regret the necessity to curtail normal daily operations to meet this new fiscal reality.”

None of the Park’s four museums will be altered and the Park will continue to maintain its four historic structures, ten reconstructed buildings, and three miles of interpretive trails. There will be no changes to the Park’s extensive artifact collection. “Should economic conditions improve, we hope to restore some regular public operating hours next spring,” added Greene.

According to Greene, Pamplin Historical Park’s ratio of earned income to operating expenses is nearly double the average for history museums nationwide. “We have maintained steady or increasing visitation and revenues since 1995, even this year when many historic sites have experienced significant declines in attendance and revenues,” said Greene. “The difference is that many history museums rely on public funding to bridge the gap between income and expenses, and we receive no government appropriations.”

The Park will continue to accelerate its use of the internet to fulfill its educational mission through on-line programming. “Pamplin Historical Park has always been on the cutting edge of museum education and we believe that the worldwide web will play an increasingly prominent role in the way museums reach their audiences,” said Greene.

Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier preserves 422 acres near Petersburg, Virginia, including the Breakthrough Battlefield, a National Historic Landmark. It is owned and operated by the Pamplin Foundation of Portland, Oregon. The Park opened in 1994 as Pamplin Park Civil War Site and debuted the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in 1999, when it adopted its current name. The winner of numerous awards for museum excellence, Pamplin Historical Park is routinely mentioned as among the best historic sites in the nation.

December 1, 2008 7:13 PM 0