At Minute Man, town steps up to fill gaps after government shutters

For Acton Tourism Manager Beth Williams, the federal government shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time.

This is peak season for tourism at Minute Man National Historical Park, Williams said, with roughly 30,000 people expected to visit the North Bridge section in a typical October. 

Even with many federal workers absent, she knew what to do, and by late Wednesday morning she was personally manning a pop-up visitor center at the park.  

“We’re here to help,” she told The Acton Bridge. 

Williams praised town tour guides who helped her set up the pop-up and took shifts to keep it running during the coming days.

The shutdown started at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday after legislators in Washington, D.C., failed to reach a deal to extend government funding. Minute Man trails are open, but many National Park Service employees have been furloughed. 

Minute Man parking lots, bathrooms, and its permanent visitor centers are closed. 

The last government shutdown stretched for more than a month from late 2018 into 2019. Williams was working in Salem at the time and said she set up a similar booth at Salem Maritime National Historical Park. 

Thinking ahead 

As this lapse loomed, Williams preemptively secured permits for a tent at the Monument Street NPS lot. She and other staff will keep the tent running from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. at least through Monday, she said. 

Steps from North Bridge itself, workers are ready to answer questions and hand out maps to tourists still streaming through the area.

“It’s both fortunate and unfortunate that I know how to do this,” Williams said. 

Sightseers come by tour bus and by car. While other lots are closed, the Monument Street area is still open due to a unique arrangement where the town owns the land but the park service manages it. 

NPS rangers still on duty are keeping an eye on the parking lot during the shutdown. Williams said Acton police are also adding patrols in the area. She said crews were set to deliver portable toilets Thursday morning to replace the shuttered facilities — although those toilets still hadn’t arrived as of 11:45 a.m. 

Several visitors passed Williams’ tent while Williams spoke with The Bridge, and some had no idea about the federal shutdown. 

“We know that visitors are going to get here and not know what to do,” Williams said. 

Town officials frequently note tourism as an economic boost for the town. Leaders have doubled down on the industry in recent years by creating Williams’ full-time tourism manager gig.

Visitors respond 

Out-of-town sightseers early Wednesday morning hailed from places including Portland, Maine, and Dallas. 

A few hours later, Celia and Gary Turner from Rochester, New York, got help from Williams at the pop-up tent. “I was super-grateful,” Celia Turner said of the encounter.  

If not for Williams and her team’s effort, Turner said, “I was just going to wander and hope I found something.” 

Tom and Rhonda Holtz of Waxhaw, North Carolina, spent a week at Acadia National Park just before the shutdown and came to North Bridge on Thursday. Tom Holtz lauded town staffers for “picking up the slack for the Parks Service.”

Tour guide Shelley Belton was helping work the pop-up visitor center late Thursday morning and said she had already counted five tour buses. As she spoke with a reporter, another bus pulled up. 

‘A silver lining’

At The Robbins House, which shares the Monument Street parking lot with the national park, board member James St. Vincent said the most immediate impact of the shutdown has been the loss of nearby bathrooms. 

The historic Robbins House museum has no plumbing. With NPS facilities locked, St. Vincent said, the closest bathroom during his Wednesday shift was back in Acton Center. 

Told about the portables coming Thursday, he responded simply, “Thank God.” 

One perk of this arrangement is that town tour guides can plug other Acton attractions outside Minute Man, in addition to the park itself. NPS staffers are prohibited from making these referrals, and Williams said many visitors don’t stick around after passing through North Bridge. 

“It’s a silver lining,” she said of the ability to promote local restaurants and other organizations. 

‘Relatively minimal’ cost

Elsewhere in government, crews were still at work at the 2229 Main Street Superfund site on Wednesday, despite Environmental Protection Agency plans to pause cleanup on some properties.

Officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said they would close national wildlife refuges, with some exceptions. As of Thursday, the gate at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Acton was still open. The bathrooms were unlocked, and the only evidence of the shutdown was a sign on a payment kiosk saying the wildlife service wasn’t selling day passes due to the funding lapse. 

“Refuge trails remain open,” the sign blared in bold lettering. 

At Minute Man, The Bridge has reached out to officials for more information on the shutdown’s local staffing impacts. 

Park buildings normally stay open through October.  Williams said the town had “a little wiggle room” to fund pop-up tourism activities and estimated the five-day cost during the shutdown at $3,000 to $5,000. 

For now, she said, this is a “relatively minimal” expense. “Should the shutdown continue,” Williams said. “We would have to reevaluate.”