Besides its cutbacks, Winterthur will forgo nearly all capital improvements except essential maintenance. It also will raise ticket prices and market the estate more heavily for corporate events and private parties, its chief executive officer, Leslie Greene Bowman, said in a statement.
Du Pont, an avid antiques collector and horticulturist who died in 1969, designed Winterthur with his father in the style of 18th- and 19th-century European country houses. The estate has a 60-acre garden and a large collection of early American decorative arts.
The nonprofit, like many other large cultural institutions, was heavily reliant on income from its endowment to fund its operations. Winterthur said yesterday that its endowment funded about 60 percent - around $14 million - of its operating budget of $24 million.
More than two-thirds of its operating expenses go to salaries and benefits for its 354 full-time and 349 part-time employes, Winterthur said yesterday.
Mainly because of the drop in the value of its endowment, the estate is facing a budget gap of $1.5 million for its fiscal year starting July 1.
Contact staff writer Patricia Horn at 215-854-2560 or phorn@phillynews.com.
