Early opposition to Art Museum price increases from City Council

by Tom MacDonald

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is struggling to make ends meet. The museum wants to raise admission prices which is subject to city approval. But some members of City Council, are reluctant to immediately embrace the idea. WHYY’s Tom MacDonald reports.

By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is struggling to make ends meet.  The museum wants to raise admission prices which is subject to city approval.  But some members of City Council, are reluctant to immediately embrace the idea. WHYY’s Tom MacDonald reports.

Transcript:
City Councilman Frank Rizzo says the city is trimming expenses to meet its budget deficit, and if the Art Museum doesn’t cut costs he wouldn’t be in favor of a ticket price increase.

Rizzo: “We really need to look carefully at how they do business there and what they want to increase, because the last thing we want to do is have an increase and then deter people from coming. And the last thing we need to do is have fewer people come and the few pay more.”

The museum plans to cut staff as part of a $1.7 million reduction of its budget. Councilman Bill Greenlee says he’s not sure about an admission increase at the Art Museum. He open to the possibility of the price increase, but wants to see more detail on why it’s needed.

Listen:
Click on the play button below or right click on this link and choose “Save Link As” to download. [audio: reports20090225museum.mp3]