Marysville City Council agreed Monday to restore the regular hours of the Koester House Museum & Gardens after reducing them at their last meeting.
At the March 25 meeting, Mayor Carla Grund asked council to cut hours, stating the museum didn’t draw enough paying visitors to justify paying a museum employee.
Council members agreed to cut two hours a day, going from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to new hours of noon to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays and 1 to 4:30 on Sundays.
At Monday’s meeting, Koester House advisory board member Sharon Kessinger and board president Ralph Balaun challenged the contention that the museum doesn’t merit the current staff hours.
The change came just as the museum was to open for the season and its marketing materials had been printed with the original hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Every bit of our publicity has said we’re open at 10, including a passport you can get at other museums,” Kessinger said. “Our hours are on the website and Facebook. People traveling through here look on their Facebook or the internet sites and see our hours.”
To replace all of these would be difficult, she said.
(Read more: The Marysville Advocate)