Bishop Museum lays off staff, dismasts Falls of Clyde

The Bishop Museum, Hawaii's 14th most visited attraction, in June laid off 14 employees, about 6 percent of the museum's 221 staff members. President and CEO Timothy E. Johns told local media the cuts were made because of the economic climate affecting Hawai‘i and were made despite first implementing other cost-cutting measures, including reduction in programs, hours of operation and other costs.

Meanwhile, work began to remove the rigging on the historic sailing ship Falls of Clyde, owned by the Bishop Museum since 1968 and moored at the Hawaii Maritime Center next to Aloha Tower Marketplace. The ship was closed to the public last year because of its deteriorating condition. Workers are taking down the vessel’s masts as a safety precaution so that it can be moved without more damage. The museum said it does not have the money to repair and restore the ship, a project that is estimated to cost $32 million. Even if restored, future maintenance could amount to as much as $1 million a year, according to news reports.

The ship was built in 1878 in Scotland, decommissioned in 1959, given to the museum in 1968 and then transferred to its affiliated Hawaii Maritime Center in 1988. Brion Toss Yacht Riggers, a Port Townsend, Wash., company, will remove the ship's four spars, topmasts and associated rigging, standing and running rigging, steel yards, wooden yards, jib boom and main side supports, the Pacific Business News reported. Other materials from the ship will be removed and the hull will be reinforced with steel to stabilize the ship.