History and cultural groups fear N.J. spending cuts

The Battleship New Jersey, a Camden waterfront attraction that has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors since 2001, is facing a fight it may not win if Gov. Christie's state budget is adopted.

The ship's state aid was reduced during the last few years from $3.4 million annually to $1.7 million. Now its dedicated funding - nearly 40 percent of its budget - has been eliminated from the governor's spending plan.

The museum would have to compete with more than 60 historical societies, museums, and sites for a share of $2.7 million dispensed by the New Jersey Historical Commission, the same amount the organization oversaw this fiscal year. The average grant by the commission was about $62,000.

"I don't know if we'd have to close, but we're in a tough spot," said Jim Schuck, president and chief executive officer of the battleship. "If we have more cuts, I don't know what the ship will look like. It will not be what it is now."

Lost in the debate about teachers' pay and school budgets totaling hundreds of millions of dollars is the effect that Christie's spending plan would have on history, arts, and cultural organizations that already have slashed staffs, programs, and hours because of earlier aid cuts.

Some are bracing for possible bankruptcy or closure as the Christie administration pushes for reductions to address a nearly $11 billion state deficit.

In Trenton, the Old Barracks Museum, a state-owned Revolutionary War site visited by schoolchildren from every county, may have to shut if the $375,000 from its budget line item - a grant that funds an institution specifically - is not replaced. The money is 45 percent of the museum's budget.

"Basically, we're being asked to roll over and die," said Richard Patterson, executive director of the Old Barracks. "How do you put a price on a state's soul?"

Nonhistorical attractions also have been affected. The state canceled its operations agreement with the Camden City Garden Club, operator of the Camden Children's Garden, and failed to pay more than $416,000 for the period from Nov. 1 through next month.

Christie's budget, which would take effect July 1, would eliminate the nonprofit's annual $625,000 direct state services grant for operations and maintenance. The money is about 40 percent of the garden's budget.

"We can't do the things we used to do," said Mike Devlin, the garden's executive director. "We're crippled."

The proposed budget "honors all legislatively recommended minimal funding levels" for the state Historical Commission ($2.7 million), Council for the Arts ($16 million), Division of Travel and Tourism ($9 million), and Cultural Trust ($500,000), Michael Drewniak, the governor's spokesman, said in a statement last month. Those groups would dole the money, which comes from the state hotel-motel tax, to programs and institutions.

"Eliminating line items is the most effective way to ensure fairness," Drewniak said. "Every arts and historic venue and organization will now have to compete on a level playing field for state funding."

The change, which effectively would cut available money by half, is coming too quickly, said officials in the history, arts, and cultural communities.

"The best-case scenario would be for the governor's plan to be phased in over a multiyear period," said B. Michael Zuckerman, director of the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities in Cape May and president of Advocates for New Jersey History.

"To eliminate all line items and expect the Historical Commission to support the whole community would be a recipe for disaster," he said. "We hope, in the short run, that the Legislature will reinstate the line items."

Under the Christie budget, five organizations - including the battleship and the Old Barracks - would lose line-item grants totaling $2.8 million and have to apply for the aid distributed by the Historical Commission. Some could be shut out because of the larger field of applicants.

"We can't sit back and let some of our premier historical organizations go down the tubes," Zuckerman said. "We are looking at the gravest threat that we have witnessed in a generation."

One group that depends on the Historical Commission for funding is the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark. It has received annual grants of more than $200,000, but could find itself competing against the battleship and Old Barracks.

"It would be lethal for organizations to share the same pot of money," said Linda Caldwell Epps, president and CEO of the society, who has already cut its staff from 30 to fewer than 10. "It's another example of New Jersey not taking pride in its heritage."

"I don't know how we can continue," she said. "We're all feeling devastated. We're bracing ourselves for what we hope will not happen."

Many organizations have scaled back operations to stay within ever-shrinking budgets. The Battleship New Jersey laid off 12 workers in January and now has five full-time salaried employees, plus a handful of hourly people in security and maintenance. The ship had 52 full-time employees in 2006.

"One of the people we laid off was a painter," Schuck said. "If I had the money, I'd have five painters. The winter beat the heck out the ship. We have a lot of rust spots."

The battleship has tried to raise money through camps, tours, and events including live music, fireworks, beer fests, and wine tastings. Battleship Red and Battleship White wines, produced by Auburn Road Vineyard & Winery in Salem County, are available at catered gatherings.

Nearby, the Camden Children's Garden also has felt the pinch. The hours of 30 workers have been trimmed from 40 to 28, and the days of operation were cut from five a week last year to three this year.

The proposed changes came after Christie recognized the group's community garden and youth programs with a Community Hero Award at his inauguration.

"It's disappointing," Devlin said. "This is not a fair cut."

The Old Barracks Museum has reduced its staff from 22 six years ago to 15. Patterson, the executive director who also serves as curator and director of development, temporarily furloughed himself.

"We've gotten through two world wars and the Great Depression," he said. "Now the museum could disappear without people paying attention because of the huge crisis this administration is facing.

If the budget proposal stands, "we go bankrupt," Patterson said. Instead of $375,000, "take away $100,000, and we'll figure out a way to not completely die."

In Moorestown, the Perkins Center for the Arts has been economizing, too. It has left two full-time positions unfilled and is getting by with a staff of 11 plus four part-timers. "We've tightened up everything," executive director Alan Willoughby said.

At the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities, four jobs have been eliminated in a year and a half, and wages were cut 10 percent.

"This has been a very tough year for our organization," Zuckerman said. "We're hoping for an upturn, but we're having to be cautious as we project the revenue coming in."

Schuck remains hopeful as he works at the Battleship New Jersey that the state will reverse itself. The site had received $1.7 million, but according to state figures, he said, it returns $9.2 million to the economy.

"I really think it's an oversight," he said. "They're looking to cut and don't understand the consequences."