Creating a 'motor mile' of history
Virginia museums build and revamp in hopes of boosting attendance

by Richard Foster
for Virginia Business
January 2007

More than 300 people showed up in torrential rain for the October opening of the $13.6 million American Civil War Center in Richmond. Incorporating the historic Tredegar Gun Foundry into its exhibit space, the museum tells the stories of Confederate and Union soldiers as well as freed African-American slaves. Its exhibits contain artifacts such as slave shackles and the death masks of Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.

Participating in the event was Daniel Jordan, the executive director of the foundation that operates Monticello. He told the crowd that he hoped the museum would help revive an interest in history. "Every survey tells us that the American people and, sadly, especially younger Americans, know and care less and less about our common heritage," he said. "Some believe this alarming trend is a matter of national security. After all, how can you defend what you don't understand or appreciate?"

In fact, a recent study by the American Association of Museums finds that visitation at history museums was down slightly last year. But the directors of Virginia's history museums and attractions hope that this will be a breakout year for their institutions. Expecting a flood of tourists for the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, they have gone on a building binge. The construction ranges from new facilities such as the American Civil War Center and the $90 million National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico to a $4.9 million expansion of the archaeology museum at Historic Jamestowne (see box on Page 25).

This flurry of activity raises a question: Are too many history museums already chasing a shrinking national audience? H. Alexander Wise Jr., president of the American Civil War Center, says the point of the question is moot: "This is not an optional business. We are doing something essential for America, putting this war in context. We're driven not by opportunism but the necessity of grounding our culture in its past. That's a calling; that's not just a [business] option."

many similar businesses in one place doesn't harm an industry - quite to the contrary, competition and convenience builds foot traffic. "It's not like a pie that's getting cut into smaller and smaller pieces, and everyone's seeing smaller attendance," says Margo Carlock, executive director of the Virginia Association of Museums. "It seems to be increasing attendance by having more to choose from."

Modest increases after downturns
The "motor-mile" effect and the mounting publicity about Jamestown may have already had some effect on attendance in Virginia. Several history museums and attractions report modest increases in visitation after long downturns. At Jamestown Settlement, the state-funded museum with a re-created 1607 James Fort, attendance was up 12 percent from January through October compared with the same period the previous year. At Historic Jamestowne, the actual site of the 1607 settlement, which is co-owned by APVA Preservation Virginia and the National Park Service, visitation was up 5 percent in 2006.

Mount Vernon, George Washington's Northern Virginia estate, also saw gains with attendance rising from 791,000 in 2003 to 949,000 in 2005. That's still down from a pre-9/11 peak of 1.2 million annual visitors, but the museum estimates that visitation will increase again to more than a million visitors this year. A new draw is a $60 million underground addition that opened in October. It includes an orientation center and a movie about Washington's life.

The attendance rebound, however, hasn't been universal. Monticello's attendance was down slightly last year, and APVA reports that visitation at its 23 historic sites besides Historic Jamestowne was flat in 2006.

The effects of 9/11 and video games
Many museum directors say that attendance was hurt in recent years by the 9/11 attacks, which caused an overall decline in travel. But, like Jordan, some noted historians point to a larger problem. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, the author of the best-selling book "1776," has complained for years about the deteriorating state of history education. "Students in our institutions of higher learning have less grasp, less understanding, less knowledge of American history than ever before," he said in a 2002 interview with Humanities magazine. "I think we are raising a generation of young Americans who are, to a very large degree, historically illiterate."

The current approach to teaching history doesn't engage students, says Stephanie Brown, associate director for public affairs at Mount Vernon. "History used to be about people and the stories of people, and it migrated into being about social theory, which may not be as interesting, and if you're not as interested in history, you're not as interested in history museums."

Adding to the task of history museums is the increased competition for the public's attention. "What we have to compete with is ESPN, the History Channel and video games, things like that," says Wise at the American Civil War Center.

Americans have an expanding number of choices to fill a shrinking amount of free time, agrees Charles F. Bryan Jr., president and CEO of the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. But he doesn't concur with the notion that people are less interested in history. He points out that the number of visits to the historical society's Web site has climbed to 1.7 million while only 60,000 people walk through its door.

Making museums attractive
History museums, in fact, are looking at ways to make themselves more attractive to a high-tech generation tied to iPods and Xboxes. "Sometimes museums have the perception of being stuffy and not fun," says Elizabeth Kostelny, executive director of APVA Preservation Virginia. Plus, "the pace of life has increased, and therefore peoples' choices in how they spend their time have increased and certainly that is having an impact on historic sites. It sounds like a gloom-and-doom picture, but I think there are real opportunities to capitalize on some of these trends and turn them back into a positive."

For instance, APVA Preservation Virginia's new archaeological museum at Historic Jamestowne includes virtual-reality viewers. These devices allow visitors to peer into the past by having a computer simulation of the 1607 fort superimposed over the landscape outside. Colonial Williamsburg offers history-themed podcasts on its Web site, and its latest popular attraction, Revolutionary City, is an interactive street-theater performance that depicts Williamsburg on the eve of the American Revolution.

The American Civil War Center also includes a theater in which visitors can push buttons and vote on the issue they believe caused the conflict. Mount Vernon's new complex, the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, features 10 original videos produced by The History Channel as well as a theater "immersion experience" that takes the audience through the battles of Boston, Trenton and Yorktown with rumbling seats and artificial snow and fog.

Visitors are responding to these innovations. Historic Jamestowne and Mount Vernon attribute recent increases in attendance to their new facilities and offerings. "I liken it to Busch Gardens or [Paramount's] Kings Dominion," says Alisa Bailey, executive director of Virginia Tourism Corp. "Every three years they have a big new ride. … You have to give the traveler a new reason to travel to your destination. The capital improvements we've made with the museums are beautiful and they're very sustainable. They're going to mean we have a lot of new 'rides' we can sell even after the 400th anniversary."

Some help from the queen
There's no question that the possible influx of tourists this year has been "a major incentive for [Virginia's history museums] to do some renovation, to expand collection storage or exhibit space," says Carlock with the state museums association. Interest in the Jamestown observance got a boost with the announcement that Queen Elizabeth II will come in May, repeating her 1957 visit for the 350th anniversary.

Jamestown 2007 estimates about 30,000 people a day will attend events during the three-day official commemoration weekend on May 11-13. Richmond-based Chmura Economics and Analytics is conducting a study to estimate the possible economic impact of the event.

Yet the VTC isn't even attempting to guess what this year's tourism will be like. "We are very optimistic we are going to see a jump in visitation," says Bailey, "but there are a lot of factors out there: Do we have enough marketing dollars in the marketplace? Who is our competition? What is the state of the economy? A lot of factors go into whether you are going to visit Virginia [in 2007]. I think it would be a waste of money to try to figure out are they going to visit Virginia or not."

Still, a lot is at stake. Tourism is big business in Virginia - 54.8 million travelers visited Virginia in 2005, spending $16.5 billion and bringing in $2 billion in tax revenue. And historic tourism is a significant chunk of Virginia's overall tourism business - 21 percent of tourists to Virginia visit at least one history museum; 18 percent of tourists visit a Colonial attraction, and 11 percent visit a Civil War attraction, according to VTC stats. Since 2004, the state tourism corporation has spent $4.5 million on marketing and promotions related to Jamestown's 400th anniversary. And Virginia's history museums are already looking past 2007. Committees are up and running to discuss marketing for another big event in 2011 - the Civil War sesquicentennial.

"I keep emphasizing that this isn't just about 2007: This is about generating as much buzz as we can about Virginia in this very competitive travel and tourism environment. … People are going to read about it and want to come here," says Bailey. "You always need a hook, and this is the hook Virginia has needed to renew interest in visiting Virginia."