Charging admission at the Huntington
In my Sunday column about the "Beauty of Science" exhibit at the Huntington Library, I made an offhand comment about attendance being strong at the San Marino bastion of Anglophilia and high culture despite the recession and despite its several years ago instituting an admissions charge, which I called a "formerly controversial decision."
An old friend begs to disagree. As he wrote me without giving permission to use his name with his comments, I won't, for now. If he writes back and gives me the OK, I'll do an update, as I prefer unanonymous commentary. His side of the story:
"As far as I am concerned, it is still controversial that the Huntington charges admission.
"The trust language required admission to be free.
"Go ahead and ask the Huntington to send you a copy of the original trust. They won't do it.
"That is not exactly the story of transparency that renders the issue 'formerly' controversial.
"I have learned that admission is about 15 percent of Huntington revenues. Important, but not make or break. They have been building and enlarging for years at the Huntington, while keeping the public out through exorbitant admission fees. Do you get a whiff of empire building, rather than public service?"
Comments
I remember when both the Huntington and Lacey Park were freely accessible to the public, many many years ago. My family and I used to go all the time when I was a child. I always thought they changed the rules and put up the fences to keep the Mexicans out. (I am Mexican).
Posted by: Anonymous | December 27, 2008 4:50 PM