Gettysburg visitor center proposes admission fee
There may soon be a price tag attached to your next visit to Gettysburg. In a sudden about-face, the foundation that operates the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center has proposed a $7.50 admission fee.
There may soon be a price tag attached to your next visit to Gettysburg.
In a sudden about-face, the foundation that operates the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center has proposed a $7.50 admission fee.
Facing a nearly $1.8 million revenue shortfall as the tourist season winds down, officials of the Gettysburg Foundation are asking the National Park Service to approve the fee.
Said Robert Wilburn, the foundation's president: "We want to avoid having a problem, so we are reacting to that."
The park service is accepting comments from the public on the proposal until Sept. 29. Wilburn said he expected a decision this fall.
The request comes only four months after the $103 million center opened to the public. Under an agreement with the park service, the Gettysburg Foundation, the park's nonprofit fund-raising partner, will operate the museum until 2028.
Wilburn said operating costs are driving the fee proposal, not debt from the higher-than-anticipated construction cost.
There would be no charge to access the 6,000-acre battlefield.
Chris Rebmann, a spokesman for the Licensed Battlefield Guide Association, said he worried that school groups from lower-income districts might be shut out of the museum.
"It is a big turnabout from the tradition of the museum being free," Rebmann said. "A lot of students come in motor coaches and are well funded. Others come in yellow school buses with sack lunches. Those are the people I am concerned about."
Wilburn said tickets for school groups would be $5. There are would be discounted rates for children under 13, adult groups and senior citizens.
The museum opened to visitors in April but will hold its grand opening on Sept. 26, with the unveiling of the newly restored cyclorama painting. The 42-foot-high, 377-foot-long circular artwork, completed in 1884, depicts Pickett's Charge. The canvas was badly deteriorated and was missing large sections when the $15 million restoration project began five years ago.
The foundation had proposed a $12 fee for the cyclorama and the movie. Under the new proposal, all visitors would pay the flat rate of $7.50 for the museum, film and cyclorama.
Comments may be submitted to John Latschar, Park Superintendent, Gettysburg National Military Park, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Suite 100, Gettysburg, Pa. 17325, or by e-mail to
» READ MORE: GETT_Superintendent@nps.gov
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