U.S. Museums Face a Hidden Crisis as Buildings Age and Repairs Pile Up
A new federal report suggests that the most pressing threat to many American museums may not be what hangs on the walls, but what is happening behind them. Roughly 85 percent of museums nationwide are dealing with deferred maintenance or major repair needs, according to a Government Accountability Office report analyzed by The Art Newspaper. Even more troubling, about 77 percent say they have at least one structural issue that could put collections at risk.
The findings complicate the familiar image of the museum as a grand, well-resourced institution. In the United States, there are roughly 16,700 museums, and many are small operations working from aging or historic buildings that are costly to maintain and difficult to modernize. For those institutions, a roof replacement or new HVAC system can consume a large share of an annual budget.
The report underscores how quickly maintenance backlogs can become a preservation problem. About half of museums say they have more than $100,000 in deferred maintenance alone. When repairs are delayed, institutions may resort to temporary fixes, with artworks sometimes ending up in improvised storage spaces such as garages or bathrooms. The issue is not only one of appearance or convenience; it can affect the long-term safety of collections.
Accessibility is another pressure point. Many museum buildings were constructed before modern standards, leaving visitors to contend with stairs, uneven surfaces, or spaces that require expensive retrofitting to become fully accessible. For museums in rural or remote areas, the challenge is compounded by higher costs for labor and materials.
At the center of the problem is a familiar constraint: money. Federal funding for museums rarely covers construction or major capital improvements, leaving institutions dependent on private fundraising when structural work becomes unavoidable. In some cases, the cost of repairing an old building may approach or exceed the expense of starting over.
The report arrives as Congress considers the future of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the main federal agency supporting museums. Its budget is just under $300 million, and decisions about that funding could shape how much help institutions receive in addressing the backlog.
For now, the report offers a sobering portrait of the sector: museums are still trying to protect their collections, even as the buildings that house them continue to deteriorate around them.
