Report: Minute Man NHP Facing $100K Budget Cut

In recent years, the stories have more often been about what Minute Man National Historical Park has gained thanks to federal funds. But now, as the nation copes with “sequestration” cuts, the narrative shifts toward what may be lost.

According to a report last week by The Globe, Minute Man National Historical Park is facing a six-figure budget reduction to which park staff must adjust to even as they prepare for Patriots’ Day festivities sure to attract thousands to the hotbed of Revolutionary history next month.

Reports the Globe:

The $137,000 budget reduction at Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord, part of the automatic spending cuts in the federal budget triggered by an impasse over how to reduce the federal budget deficit, is being distributed so as to affect visitors as little as possible, said park superintendent Nancy Nelson.

Following the sequestration cuts, Minute Man will still open as scheduled, Nelson told the Globe, but the park is likely to rely on rangers to pitch in with maintenance, while guided tours and visitors center staffing may fall to volunteers.

The North Bridge Visitor Center in Concord is open year-round, and its regular hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. will resume this Sunday, March 31. The Minute Man Visitor Center, located off Route 2A at the Lexington-Lincoln line will re-open on March 31, while the Wayside Home of Authors will remain closed through the year for repairs, according to the park’s website.

This isn't the first time federal spending cuts have threatened the park around Patriots' Day. Back in 2011, , which would have thrown a wrench into Concord's Patriots' Day festivities.

More on the Park, and How Federal Funding Helped in Recent Years  

Minute Man NHP encompasses about 1,000 acres primarily along the Battle Road that runs through Concord, Lincoln and Lexington. It is a popular destination among local, regional, national and international visitors interested in the regions historical and literary roots.

The park's headquarters are at the North Bridge Visitor Center, which as its name suggests, overlooks the North Bridge in Concord where minutemen and militia companies from the area engaged the British Regulars on April 19, 1775.

Other park units include the Wayside Home of Authors and the Battle Road unit, which are both located along a stretch of Route 2A that more or less runs parallel to route by which the colonists chased the Regulars back to Boston.

Minute Man, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009, received a birthday present from the federal government that year in the form of $1.7 million in federal stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

At the time, park officials said half of those monies would be used to restore the lush Buttrick Gardens overlooking the North Bridge. Additional funding was put toward rehabilitating the John Nelson House site in Lincoln and landscape management to support farming of the park’s agricultural fields.

Another gift from the government aided in the addition of Barrett Farm to the park. The Barrett Farm property includes the 1705 farmhouse where Col. James Barrett lived and where the British Regulars marched in search of a stockpile of colonial weapons and supplies the morning of the “shot heard ‘round the world.”

Nearly 10 years ago, the local organization Save Our Heritage acquired the Barret Farm and 3.4 acres of surrounding land from the McGrath family, the first step in a collaborative effort to restore the property and incorporate it into the park.

That acquisition preceded an eight-year restoration project funded through CPA grants from the town of Concord, private donations and a Save America’s Treasures grant from the Department of the Interior.

Last October, after eight years of restoration and legislation, Save Our Heritage transferred ownership of Barrett Farm to the National Park Service and Minute Man National Historical Park.