ROANOKE (AP) -- The National D-Day Memorial, teetering on precarious financial footing, will host a Veterans Day ceremony as usual. But nearly half the staff will be gone in less than a month and visitors this winter may have to call for an appointment. Virginia's congressional delegation has been pressing to have the National Park Service take control of the Bedford memorial, but it still faces an uncertain future. The president of the foundation that runs the memorial, William McIntosh, said earlier this year that it was in danger of closing because of a decline in donations. Monday, he said he believes it can remain open for the duration of the Park Service's scrutiny, although he's not sure how. The memorial could be taken over by the Park Service in either of two ways: a presidential declaration, which would be fairly speedy, or through a full Park Service review, which officials said usually takes two years. McIntosh said he's been told informally it is not likely to qualify for inclusion by presidential declaration. That option has been under study for the past few months at the direction of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. But Sen. Mark Warner said he thinks the initial review, which included a Park Service team's visit in August, can help the case for the memorial. "It got on their radar screen," he said. Meanwhile, Warner and two other Virginia Democrats, Sen. Jim Webb and Rep. Tom Perriello, recently won approval for a full Park Service study on turning the privately run memorial into a national park. Such studies normally take about two years, according to Terry Moore, chief of park planning for the Northeast Region. McIntosh is cautiously hopeful about the longer study. "There is more of a chance," he said. "I'm glad that the memorial will get a thorough look." To become a national park, the memorial will have to be of national significance. The 8-year-old memorial is a tribute to the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II. The outdoor museum was built in Bedford because the community suffered among the nation's highest per-capita losses on D-Day, when some 10,000 troops were killed or wounded in the largest air, land and sea operation in military history. The suitability of placing the memorial in the park system also will be studied, as well as the feasibility of managing it, Moore said. If the memorial passes all those tests, the Park Service will determine whether it is the best agency to run it. "It's not just that the memorial is a worthy subject," McIntosh said. Another question is "can the Park Service do it as well as the memorial does it?" Only a handful of the sites studied meet the requirements to become a national park, Moore said. "Between 10 and 15 percent may end up with a designation," he said. Even if the memorial meets all the Park Service criteria, acquisition isn't certain. That is determined by Congress, which will get a recommendation from the Interior Department. The Park Service study won't get under way immediately, because no funds were appropriated for it. Warner said he would look into getting funding for the study, as well as ways to help the memorial stay afloat. The memorial's former director, Richard B. Burrow, led aggressive efforts to build the monument in time for many aging World War II veterans to see it. The privately run foundation faced financial disaster soon after the memorial's 2001 opening, and has had to recover from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Federal fraud charges were filed against Burrow, but eventually were dropped. Visitation was up this past summer, but visitors supply only about $600,000 of the $2.2 million in revenue needed yearly. The hundreds expected to attend Wednesday's Veterans Day ceremony will be admitted free. The memorial will lay off 11 of its 24 full- and part-time staff members Dec. 1, and McIntosh said other cuts will be made as necessary. McIntosh himself plans to retire next summer. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
