Visits, sales at city museum down by half this summer due to budget cuts, Juneau Assembly told

Former director, now working as a temporary curator, says some activities such as accepting donations, processing collection items and tours have halted

The Juneau-Douglas City Museum is closed on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Visitors and sales at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum have been about half of their usual levels since reducing its operations in July due to budget cuts, Juneau Assembly members were told at their meeting Monday night.

The museum has been open 22 hours a week — from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays — compared to daily operations totalling 56 hours a week before the cuts, said Mary Pat Wyatt, a former longtime director of the museum who is again working there temporarily as a part-time curator. About 4,700 people have visited during the past two months.

But some parts of the museum’s operations have ceased entirely, she said during the public testimony portion of Monday’s meeting.

"We've paused accepting donations," Wyatt said. "We have made no headway in the backlog of over 3,000 objects. We’re not able to plan for next summer's exhibits because we don't know who's going to be there, if anybody. We canceled offering the summer walking tours."

Other impacts include the winter schedule of exhibits being cut to three instead of six, no First Friday evenings in September or October, no school tours or classroom visits, and not being able to help with research requests, according to a letter from Wyatt to city leaders dated Sept. 11.

The museum got about $300,000 for the fiscal year that started July 1 in the budget approved by the Assembly in June, a cut of about $261,000 from the amount requested to fully fund operations. The cuts eliminated two of the museum’s full-time managerial-level employees and the third employee departed to accept a job elsewhere, leaving one permanent part-time administrative employee on the payroll.

Reduced operations began July 10, although a $45,000 donation from Norwegian Cruise Line allowed seasonal museum workers to be hired. Volunteers are also helping staff the museum.

The Assembly made the cuts to the museum’s budget, while sparing some other recreational and cultural programs such as Juneau’s two public pools, after a months-long process spurred by voters approving two tax-cut measures in last year’s municipal election. An attempt to reverse some of the impacts of those measures is on this fall’s ballot with a 1% seasonal sales tax intended to "help fund indoor and outdoor recreation," and another measure restoring the property tax cap to 12 mills instead of nine.

"I'm here tonight to urge the Assembly to direct a portion of any additional revenue that you realize after the upcoming election toward fully restoring funding to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum," said Jean McBrien, a museum volunteer and member of the support organization Friends Of The Juneau-Douglas City Museum, during Monday’s meeting. In particular, she asked funding be restored for the full-time director and curator of public programs positions.

"When and if additional revenue becomes available, we have a clear opportunity to reinvest in civic spaces that serve everyone," she said. "The city museum generates real value. It enriches our local school curricula, attracts heritage tourism, and provides a welcoming space for residents to connect with our shared history."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.