Museum cuts staff, hours; closes Maritime Center

Honolulu’s Bishop Museum has reduced staff and visitor hours to curb costs in the current recession. Beginning May 1, the museum will close every Tuesday and some workers will either be laid off or furloughed. The museum also temporarily closed its Hawaii Maritime Center at Honolulu Harbor near Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Bishop Museum officials, who announced the changes on April 10, still are determining exactly how many of the total 215 employees will be affected by the cutbacks, according to spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz. "The managers are still working that out in the budget process," she told PBN.

“This decision was and remains very difficult,” President and CEO Timothy Johns said in a prepared statement. “With recent cuts in state funding, loss of income from investments, and a continued decline in nonresident visitors, the museum must adjust to reduce its operating expenses.”

Johns said the museum is committed to continuing to provide programs, research and exhibits despite the uncertain economic climate. Bishop Museum, a nonprofit natural and cultural history museum of Hawaii and the Pacific founded in 1889, is the state’s 16th-most-visited attraction with more than 300,000 visitors annually.