No money, more problems: 85% of US museums in urgent need of building repairs

A US Government Accountability Office (GAO) survey found that around 85% of US museums have a costly backlog of building maintenance or repairs, and about 77% report at least one structural issue that could put collections at risk. Released in March, the GAO’s findings stem from work commissioned in 2024 during the federal appropriations process, based on a survey of roughly 300 museums and 17 site visits. GAO officials noted that many of the approximately 16,700 museums in the report’s target population are small institutions with limited budgets, making major expenses like roofs or HVAC systems potentially as large as a third of annual spending. About half of surveyed museums reported more than $100,000 in deferred maintenance, with limited access to grants for construction and additional challenges in rural areas and in historic buildings that are difficult to retrofit for accessibility under modern standards such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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