Closures Loom at Museums & Parks

If the U.S. government fails to work out its budget issues by midnight on Friday, April 8th, National Parks and museums would be forced to close.

Washington D.C. would be expected to take the brunt of the punishment if the government does shut down, turning away around 500,000 guests from the National Zoo and the Smithsonian museums.

The last time the government shut down, in late 1996/early 1996, the National Park Service was forced to deny seven million visitors entry.  Monuments and museums lost two million guests according to the report by USA Today.