D-Day Memorial cutting jobs, worker calls it necessary

10:10 p.m.

By Candice Nelson
WSLS Reporter
cnelson@wsls.com

This is the last month Rusty Nix will stand in front of the D-Day Memorial in Bedford as the tour coordinator.

"About six months ago was really the first time we'd been informed that this may be happening in the future,” Nix said.

The past couple days, 11 workers found out they would lose their jobs, from office workers to site maintenance.

We sat down with Dr. William McIntosh, Memorial President. He said they’ve seen this coming.

“Yes, and the staff was made aware of this. We have quarterly staff meetings and the first time this came up was last calendar year,” he said.

McIntosh isn’t sure how much money will be saved. He said that depends on how long they can operate with a minimal staff.

It’s been less than a week since President Obama signed a new law authorizing a study to determine if the memorial should be a national park, what McIntosh says could take a couple years.

Even Nix agrees the layoffs are the best thing to do.

"It is a necessary thing to help preserve the memorial to hold on to try to wait for the national park service to take over, that that's a necessary step in that chain of events,” he said.

Although 11 workers will lose their jobs, this memorial still means a lot to to them and the people of Bedford. But Nix says he's still worried it will end up closing.

Nix is disappointed but grateful for the heads up.

"That was a really great thing, to be informed now. It almost gave a sense of closure instead of wondering 'will I have a job the next day.' With them telling us our last day is on November 30th it gave us about a month's head notice,” he said.

McIntosh said both full-time and part-time positions are affected. They already made cuts in workers’ salaries and benefits packages before deciding to cut staff.

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4:46 p.m.

By Angela Hatcher
WSLS Reporter
ahatcher@wsls.com

Congressman Tom Perriello worked to pass legislation authorizing a study of whether the National D-Day Memorial should become a national park. Upon hearing the news of the memorial cutting jobs, Perriello issued the following statement:

“While we work on a longer-term legislative solution, the D-Day Memorial is having to make tough cuts like so many businesses and nonprofits in our area during the economic downturn. Thankfully, they have tremendous volunteer support and I know the community of Bedford will do whatever it can to keep the doors of the Memorial open while we continue our efforts to bring it into the National Park Service.”

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4:41p.m.

National D-Day Memorial Foundation president William McIntosh confirms eleven positions have been eliminated. That's about half the staff of the memorial.

McIntosh says the cuts are a mixture of full and part time positions. He tells us workers hours had already been cut in recent months.

The workers last day on the job will be November 30. McIntosh says the workers were made aware of the possibility jobs would be cut during staff meetings earlier this year.

McIntosh says the cuts should not affect the operation of the memorial. It's a decision that should keep the memorial from going into debt.

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2:17 p.m.

The cash-strapped National D-Day Memorial is cutting jobs.

WSLS confirmed the cuts with Jeff Fulgham, the memorial's development director.

Fulgham says the decision was planned and workers were made aware of the possibility months ago. Fulgham says memorial leadership needed time to decide which positions would be eliminated.

We'll have more on WSLS at 5:00 and 6:00.