The Smithsonian Museum is a victim of the recent budget cuts caused by the sequestration.
Three exhibit areas in the museum in Washington, D.C. closed on Wednesday. The closed areas include some sections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, a small exhibit space in the National Museum of African Art and the Commons area Smithsonian Castle, which displays objects from every Smithsonian museum.
The closures are the result of security cutbacks and are expected to continue through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, according to Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas, who spoke to the Washington Post. The museum made the cutbacks to reduce its budget by $42 million as part of the budget cuts put in place by Congress.
Officials did "what we could do to adjust and what would affect the public the least," St. Thomas said, adding that no major exhibits will be effected.
"I cannot imagine it will affect anyone's plans," St. Thomas said.
The closure plan was announced by Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough, following a meeting with the Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday. The museum is also imposing a hiring freeze and deferring building maintenance.
Clough told Congress that the budget cuts would force a reduction in the Smithsonian's security contract that would require the museum to institute some gallery closures.
The museum considered temporary, rolling closures of galleries a day or week at a time, but museum officials settled instead on a fewer number of long-term closures.
If the budget cuts are sustained by Congress beyond September, the Smithsonian could face cuts of $65 million for next year, according to Clough, and will have to then consider more drastic measures to reduce expenditure.
The Smithsonian Institution was established in 1846 and is a group of museums and research centers financed by the United States government. It includes 19 museums in the Washington, D.C. area.
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