Read and translate the text. Exploratorium Forced to Cut Back

Exploratorium Forced to Cut Back

By KENNETH CHANG for “The New York Times” August 26, 2013

When the Exploratorium in San Francisco reopened in April at a new, larger site on a waterfront pier, museum officials expected a crush of crowds — so many additional visitors that they worried the museum and its interactive exhibits would be overrun.

Attendance at the museum has, indeed, more than doubled, to an average of 4,100 visitors a day, from fewer than 1,600 visitors a day last year. But museum officials had expected 7,000 visitors a day through summer, and four months after they completed the move to their new $220 million home, they had a $9 million hole in their operating budget.

This month, they announced that they were reducing their staffing level of 435 by about a fifth — a move to preserve the core of the institution while putting it back on an even financial keel, said Dennis M. Bartels, the executive director.

“We are out of whack,” he said. “It’s painful. It’s not where we wanted to be.”

The Exploratorium has been one of the nation’s premier science museums, a leader in interactive exhibits involving games and problem-solving that have been models for other museums around the world. But some of the very people who designed those exhibits — and who were known for building multiple prototypes and refining them based on visitors’ reactions — are the ones who have been told they will not have a job in three weeks.

“The majority of the people that used to work in that model are being laid off,” said Earl Rankin Stirling, an exhibit technician and president of the union representing museum employees, who is among those who will be laid off. “It basically rips at the heart of who we are here.”

Besides staff reductions, the museum intends to expand moneymaking ventures, like consulting and building exhibits for other museums — changes that Mr. Stirling said could compromise the museum’s personality.

“It’s a core difference,” Mr. Stirling said. “We’re moving from visionary, internally developed work to work-for-hire for other museums around the world.”

In an era of vanishing federal financing, the Exploratorium has less cushion for error than it might have had in the past. It set its annual operating budget at $54 million — a jump from the $30 million it took to run its old location. When the crowds didn’t come in the numbers that had been expected, museum leaders decided they had to trim spending to $45 million.

The midcourse retrenchment will leave the museum with the equivalent of 350 full-time employees, a reduction of 85 positions. Mr. Stirling said that in labor talks, the museum’s leaders did not offer any concessions like taking pay cuts themselves to help make up for their miscalculations. Besides 35 who have been laid off, seven employees were nudged to early retirement and eight had their status cut to part-time. The Exploratorium also eliminated about 35 unfilled positions.

However, the museum is creating a dozen new jobs as part of a reorganization that expands the consulting efforts. Dr. Bartels said that two exhibit building teams — one for the Exploratorium and one for other museums — were being consolidated.

By most accounts, the new museum, with triple the exhibit space, has been successful. It has managed to preserve the work-in-progress aesthetic of the old Exploratorium and draw in thousands more visitors than a year ago.

Museum officials said they did not make a big publicity push, as they had worried that the new location would be overwhelmed, like the new California Academy of Sciences was when it reopened in 2008. It’s a decision that they now regret.

“We made a fatal flaw in trying to suppress attendance for our opening,” Mr. Stirling said. “It was an opportunity lost.”

Ticket income was also less than expected. An adult ticket is priced at $25, but because of discounts to local residents, children and others, the average revenue per visitor was only $12.50, below the $15.50 that was expected. Dr. Bartels said there would be no increase in ticket prices or any change in strategies like relying on blockbuster temporary exhibits to draw in bigger crowds.

Staff members said they were not prepared for the cuts.

“The depth and breadth just totally shocked everyone,” said Karen Kalumuck, a biologist who has been at the Exploratorium for 19 years and is now taking early retirement at age 57. “The thought of retirement is just so odd.”

Still, she said she was “cautiously optimistic” that the Exploratorium would recover.

“Despite getting canned,” Dr. Kalumuck said, “I do love the place and the people.”

1. Find English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.

Сокращение штата сотрудников, ключевое (основное) различие, федеральное финансирование, готовой бюджет, сократить расходы до 45 миллионов, трудоустройство на полный рабочий день, сожалеть о решении, фатальная ошибка, возможность, выход на пенсию.

2. Answer the following questions:

 What is “Exploratorium in San Francisco” like?

 The museum officials face a problem, don’t they?

 Can they solve problem with low attendance in the nearest future?

 Will a third of the staff have to be redundant?

 What does the museum do to help the situation?

 Did the staff expect the changes for the worse? Give an argument from the text.

 What future do you predict for the Museum?

3. Is it true or false or not stated in the article?

1. This is one of the biggest museums in the USA. 2. The people who were engaged in building the museum and its exhibits will not get fired. 3. The staff is sorry that they did not advertise the opening of the museum properly. 4. The price for the tickets will rise as it will help the budget. 5. The museum will find other ways to survive, for example they will let popular contemporary art shows take place in their museum. 6. The museum gets a large financial state support.

4. Find mistakes in the following sentences.

1. Besides staff reductions, the museum intend to expand moneymaking ventures, like consulting and building exhibits for other museums. 2. “It’s a core difference,” Mr. Stirling said. “We moving from visionary, internally developed work to work-for-hire for other museums around the world.” 3. In an era of vanishing federal financing, the Exploratorium has less cushion for error then it might have had in the past. 4. It set its annual operating budget at $54 million — a jump from the $30 million it tooks to run its old location. 5. When the crowds didn’t came in the numbers that had been expected, museum leaders decided they had to trim spending to $45 million.

5. Write 5 sentences that show the main idea of the text.