Exploratorium cuts 18% of staff as attendance lags

The Exploratorium projected daily attendance of 6,000 to 7,000 at the Embarcadero, but the actual crowd was 3,000 to 4,000. The Exploratorium projected daily attendance of 6,000 to 7,000 at the Embarcadero, but the actual crowd was 3,000 to 4,000. Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Sarah Rice, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 28 Caption Close Exploratorium cuts 18% of staff as attendance lags 1 / 28 Back to Gallery

The Exploratorium, San Francisco's acclaimed science museum, has decided to eliminate 80 of its 435 paid positions after attendance in the four months since it opened at its new waterfront location reached only half of what had been anticipated, its directors said.

"We were just not hitting our mark," said Executive Director Dennis Bartels.

The museum had projected a daily attendance of 6,000 to 7,000, but actual attendance at its new digs at Pier 15 on the Embarcadero was between 3,000 and 4,000, said Sabrina Smith, the museum's director of communications and marketing.

The cuts include laying off workers, leaving unfilled positions vacant and letting all seasonal employees go. A total of 34 full-time, permanent employees will be terminated within 30 days.

The reductions amount to more than 18 percent of the staff and are across the board, Exploratorium officials said.

Some of the staff members who will lose their jobs have been with the Exploratorium for years. One of them is Kua Patten, 52, who is director of exhibit services. "There are a lot of emotions after being here for 20 years," he said.

"It's part of the reorganization after the move," he said. "It's sad and a little scary, but if it keeps the organization going, you do what you have to do."

Revenue below projections

In addition to the low attendance, ticket revenue fell well below projections. The museum projected average ticket revenue of $15.50, but the actual revenue per ticket was more like $12.50, Smith said.

The Exploratorium had advertised an adult admission price of $25, but ticket prices were heavily discounted. Bay Area residents were allowed in for $20, and children, seniors and tour groups also paid less for tickets. The result was revenue about 20 percent less than projected.

The museum had expected to sell more of the higher-priced tickets, especially to visitors to the area, but that did not work out.

"We were expecting more tourists," Bartels said.

The Exploratorium's new home cost $300 million and has more than 600 exhibits spread over 330,000 square feet of space. It has an operating budget of $43 million a year.

Early praise for new site

The new site, in what was an old shipping pier, was hailed for its location right on the water, because of the interplay of the building, the weather and San Francisco Bay with its tides, currents and wildlife, which the museum used to its advantage.

"Here we can make the invisible more visible, like the colors of the bay's water, the chaos of the winds on-site," Bartels said when the Pier 15 museum opened last spring.

It was also praised as a major addition to the city's waterfront - "a facility that is making our waterfront more accessible for residents and visitors," Mayor Ed Lee said at the time.

Rebuilding the old shipping piers, turning them into museum space and moving hundreds of exhibits across town was "a herculean effort," Smith said. "It was above and beyond."

But many of the employees who made the move will no longer be on the payroll.

"We are making an adjustment," Smith said. "We now are an Exploratorium that is running, as opposed to an Exploratorium that is moving."

Smith explained the staff cuts as "something that was anticipated" once the new location was up and running. "It is no surprise to us," she said.

After a splashy opening and heavy advertising, however, the attendance in the first four months was clearly a surprise.

"Attendance," Smith said carefully, "was a little bit slower than we anticipated."

Facing economic reality

Patten, one of the laid-off employees, said he understood why the museum staff had to be scaled back.

"We have to face the economic reality and be a nonprofit," he said. "We don't have the flexibility of other organizations."

"The hardest part," Bartels said, "is telling anybody that there is no longer a position for them and that it has nothing to do with their performance or the great job they've done."