Smithsonian leaders have revealed that renovating the Air and Space museum in Washington, D.C. will cost almost $1 billion. That’s the equivalent of an army of 10,000 workers earning $100,000 each for a year to fix it up. Geez, government projects are expensive!


My letter in the Washington Post today proposes that rather than hitting taxpayers, museum visitors should pay for the renovation:

Regarding the June 23 Style article “Estimate for Air and Space facelift closes in on $1 billion”:


About $250 million of the ballooning makeover costs for the National Air and Space Museum will come from private donations, leaving a $750 million bill for taxpayers.


But rather than burdening taxpayers, how about charging visitors? The Post noted that the museum gets 7 million visitors a year, so a modest $5 fee would raise $35 million a year and pay back the makeover costs over 21 years.


Aside from the greater fairness of charging users rather than taxpayers, fees would limit demand and thus improve the visitor experience at the overcrowded institution. User fees for Air and Space — and other Smithsonian museums — would also help level the playing field with private D.C. museums, such as the International Spy Museum.

There is one more advantage of user pays. The Post notes that the estimated cost of the renovation has already skyrocketed from earlier figures of $250 million and $600 million (a common pattern). If the museum were required to fully cover renovation costs through voluntary donations and user fees, Smithsonian executives would have a strong incentive to find design savings and control construction costs.