I just read this short article on the Milwaukee Road Shops Historic District when suddenly it ocurred to me that while the economy is barely crawling along, the economic pressures on museums in terms of the amount folks have toward spending a shrinking amount of money on visits, donations, perhaps even time in volunteer terms.
http://www.milwaukeerailroadshops.org/photogallery.html
Museums do have an economic benefit in relation to local economies.Is there some study of this that has been done? I know sucess can be measured by a hundred yardsticks, but this particular one seems timely...Sioux City has the benefit tagged of their facility at one million dollars.. While museums are non profit and largely subsist on donations of labor and funds, some admission fares, the municipal coffers would seem to reap a benefit. In varying degrees they appear to be a local economic engine...is this common or uncommon? I have no idea but for me its an interesting question to pose..
Here is the article...
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2009/05/31/news_business/local/d148a5a2586e1a45862575c3007c8dbc.txt
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Very nice evaluation of the impact on the economy of Souix City. Unfortunately, governments spend their "economic development" money on new commercial buildings (offices, manufacturing) which typically move a business from one location to another due to the new location's tax benefit. What benefits one location hurts another. Spending on historic sites is miniscule compared to this, yet most historic sites are totally new money and employment.
Economic developers are often blissfully unaware of "industry without smokestacks." I live in an area heavily dependent on tourism, as well as summer residents. If either went away, we'd be hurting.
I took a class in hospitality and tourism at our local community college some years ago. The economic impacts of tourism extend well beyond the dollar the tourist spends. That hamburger, roll, cheese, and all the other ingredients had to come from somewhere - more jobs created. And people have to support that second tier as well. The trickle down is truly significant, multiplying the value of the dollar the tourist spends several times over.
I'll grant that many of the jobs created by tourism are at the service level. But the trickle up means more higher paying jobs as well.
We know our tourist railroad has a significant impact as well. We aren't located in the middle of a metropolitan area, meaning that the small towns nearby get the lion's share of the tourists' meal and lodging money. It's a win-win situation, but not everyone sees that.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Economic impact statements by state and city sponsored cultural institutions have been popular for the past few years. The Sioux City study seems to use the standard methodology, but the article does not elaborate. So here is the detail. Visitors are sorted by type and each type of visitor is assigned a dollar value. Visitors from more than 150 mile likely stay overnight. Their “value ” includes the cost of meals, hotel rooms, gasoline purchases. This is often more than $120 each, even if they visit as a family. Locals, on the other hand have nearly no impact. Out of town but close-by visitors get an impact value of $20-50 each because they too bring dollars to the community. When the values are totaled, the result is increased by a multiplier because money new to the community circulates many times. It is unclear what multiplier was used in Iowa. Many studies are flawed by use of a large multiplier. Anything more than 4.0 could be suspect.
By this method, the value of a museum to a community is largely dependent upon how many "butts in beds” are created. It’s a valuable model, but it’s only one measure. As an alternative, it should be remembered that museums are educational institutions and, as the commercial says, the value of an education: priceless. That's important because the economic impact of the Historic District, unfortunatly, seems rather paltry. By comparison, even a small regional convention center will usually claim an annual impact of $50+ million.
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