The federal government shutdown has idled a few hundred federal workers in Buffalo. WBFO's Eileen Buckley says the National Parks Service also closed the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Siteon Delaware Avenue.
"Because we are a unit of the National Parks Service, and this is federal property, we are affected by the shutdown," said Molly Quakenbush, executive director of TR Site.
Quackenbush gathered with her staff Tuesday afternoon to discuss the shutdown. The site is closed to the public.
"We’ve had people at the door today, and we’ve had to turn away and they weren’t very happy about it either," said Quakenbush.
There are no tours, walk-in-visitors or programs allowed until the shutdown ends.
“We have some more tours planned this week, some schools are coming in, and just our regular walk-in visitation, which is usually busy for this time of year. With the fall season, there are still many, many people out touring the country and we are one of our region’s heritage tourism attractions," said Quakenbush.
Quakenbush tells WBFO News this will affect the financial bottom line at the TR Site.
"We get partial funding from the parks service, but we are also to raise dollars from our museum shop and with admissions, and programing, so sure, it will in the long," said Quakenbush.
The last government shutdown the TR site was 17 years ago for 20 days.
Meanwhile, in Buffalo about 1,000 federal employees were furloughed Tuesday.
At the U.S. Attorney's Office in Buffalo, U.S. Attorney Bill Hochul was not allowed to discuss the situation. But sources tell WBFO News federal prosecutors will continue ongoing criminal trials in Buffalo and Rochester. However, those attorneys will not be paid for their service during the shutdown.
Other furloughed federal workers include IRS employees, members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.