Bicentennial Hangover

George Mason traveled to Williamsburg by carriage in 1776 to deliver his Virginia Declaration of Rights to the House of Burgesses; Patrick Henry conducted his late-night debates at the King's Arms Tavern by the flickering glow of candlelight. Today's visitors to Colonial Williamsburg explore the nation's oldest and most ambitious historical restoration in shuttle buses and relax in air-conditioned rooms with electric light. But the 20th century comforts carry an inflated modern price tag--and so, in Bicentennial 1976 of all years, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, which runs the restoration, suffered a $703,000 deficit, its first ever. More red ink threatens this year unless foundation officials can attract more visitors and do some fancy cost cutting.

Over the past 51 years, Colonial Williamsburg has become more than just a faithful reproduction of the 18th century. It has grown to include 211 exhibition rooms, 36 craft shops, three hotels and seven restaurants. To direct the tourists, the foundation spends $500,000 a year maintaining a staff of 600 garbed in colonial costumes. The 30 shuttle buses provided for visitors burn a $1 million hole in the budget; fresh flowers, finger bowls and exquisitely manicured lawns and gardens cost thousands more. Says Foundation President Carlisle Humelsine: "It is unique--uniquely expensive too." Total 1976 budget: $54 million.

John D. Rockefeller Jr. financed the original restoration in 1926 with $11 million and added a $60 million endowment to cover future expenses. Income from that endowment and sales of tickets, gifts and hotel and restaurant services enabled the nonprofit foundation to cover its expenses through its first 49 5 years. But in 1976 Colonial Williamsburg officials expected the Bicentennial celebration to attract a record 1.4 million visitors--v. 1.2 million in 1975--and spent an extra $500,000 to prepare for them. Instead, potential tourists, pinched by inflation and recession and frightened by forecasts of bumper-to-bumper traffic at historic sites, stayed home. Attendance topped the 1975 figure by only a few thousand; during the fall and winter, visitors were so few that Williamsburg laid off 3% of its staff.

Other historical attractions, including New England's Old Sturbridge Village, Plimouth Plantation and Mystic Seaport, also took a Bicentennial beating. Sturbridge came close to shutting its doors one day a week during the winter months until the National Endowment for the Humanities last month produced a $540,000 three-for-one matching grant. Plimouth Plantation ended last year with an $83,000 deficit, v. a $61,000 profit in 1975.

Cutting Costs. At Williamsburg, attendance seems to be rising now after a disastrous first quarter of 1977. But the price of an adult admission ticket is only $6.50, and it costs the foundation about $8 more to shepherd a visitor through. So the foundation is seeking new ways to cut costs and raise money. It is building a more centrally located visitor center to slash its gas bills by two-thirds, and for the first time is bidding for group tours to save on expenses for bus fuel and guides. Guests checking into Colonial Williamsburg hotels are now greeted by discreetly worded appeals for donations; the foundation hopes to receive about 1,000 gifts this year--double the 1976 total. But even if these methods succeed in closing the 1977 budget gap, a longer-range worry threatens: the possibility that an energy crunch and rising fuel costs will both push foundation expenses still higher and persuade still more potential visitors to stay home.

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