The Jamestown Settlement and Yorktown Victory Center saw fewer visitors in 2012, with the 560,519 paid visitors representing a 4.4 percent drop from 2011. Revenue declined 2.6 percent.
Jamestown Settlement received 402,318 paid visitors—a 3.2 percent decrease from 2011—while the Yorktown Victory Center saw 158,201 paid visitors, down 7.3 percent. Admissions revenue at both sites was $5,030,417, a 2.6 percent decline, according to a press release from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
“Overall visitation kept pace with the previous year in the first half of 2012,” said Susan Bak, the director of marketing and retail operations for the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, “but during the second half dropped significantly in several months that are crucial for individual and group visitation.”
Bak said the national economy, gas prices and the shrinking budgets of schools are key factors in the newly released numbers. According to the news release, 64.6 percent of paid visitors were individuals while 35.4 percent were groups, including schools. It is estimated 75 percent of individual visitors came from outside Virginia.
There were a total of 58,956 complimentary admissions to the sites. These numbers include residents of the City of Williamsburg, James City and York counties, children under 6 years old, group escorts and promotional admissions, according to the news release.
The on-site museums are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. General admission for 2013 is $16 for adults and $7.50 for ages 6 through 12 at Jamestown Settlement and $9.75 for adults and $5.50 for ages 6 through 12 at the Yorktown Victory Center.
Work continues on the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown which will replace the Yorktown Victory Center by late 2016. The Yorktown Victory Center was built in 1976, according to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation’s website. Construction began last year.
The new museum will be 25 percent larger than the Yorktown Victory Center, and will feature 64,000 square feet of living history area in a new outdoor camp. The current site has 16,000 square feet. There will also be 77,400 square feet of new outdoor farm area compared to the 64,000 square feet currently in place.
The new museum will be able to host over 400 guests and will contain 3,000 square feet of classroom spaces with five classrooms that can be consolidated into one space with sliding walls. There will also be four theaters and parking accommodations for 206 cars and 21 buses. You can read more about the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown here. The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation also has information on their website about the new museum which you can read by clicking here.
