The N.C. Senate's proposed budget again puts some N.C. State Historic Sites in the crosshairs, including Vance Birthplace in Weaverville. Director Keith Hardison wrote a letter to supporters asking them to contact their representatives in the N.C. Senate. The $1,151,073 in newly recommended cuts, when combined with the cuts identified in the governor’s budget, constitute a reduction of 28 percent in the operating budget for the N.C. State Historic Sites, according to Hardison.
The proposed Senate budget would close the six-year-old Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City and the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex in Fayetteville, an important Civil War Sesquicentennial destination, according to a release from the James K. Polk site.
Significant reductions in the funding of Tryon Palace in New Bern will reduce hours and service to the public, beginning in July 2011, and would result in its closing to the public in fiscal year 2012-13.
Other possible closures in addition to Vance and Polk include Alamance Battleground, Aycock Birthplace, Fort Dobbs, Historic Bath, Historic Stagville and House in the Horseshoe. The budget, if adopted in its current form, could potentially close around one-third of the state's sites.
In April, an initial N.C. House budget also detailed cuts detailing a reduction of roughly 30 percent in the budget for state historic sites. An amendment to re-distribute $1.2 million for an affordable housing fund eliminated the House shortfall.
Citizens can examine the budget bill at the General Assembly website at ncleg.net.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the budget bill May 31.
Following that vote, the bill will be reconciled with the House of Representatives version of the budget proposal. A final version of the bill must then be signed into law by Gov. Bev Perdue.
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