Facing financial woes, Colonial Williamsburg to restructure
By Associated Press
Jun 29, 2017 9:52 AM CDT
In a Wednesday March 18, 2015 file photo, Colonial interpreters walk in front of the Colonial courthouse along Duke of Gloucester street in the Colonial Williamsburg area of Williamsburg, Va. Colonial Williamsburg, facing a decline in visitors and hundreds of millions in debt, announced Thursday it...   (Associated Press)

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Colonial Williamsburg plans to outsource many of its commercial operations and lay off some workers in response to declining attendance and hundreds of millions in debt.

The living history museum at Virginia's 18th-century capital announced plans Thursday to contract with outside companies to run its golf, landscaping, retail and other operations.

The restructuring will include some layoffs at the site, where costumed actors re-enact life in colonial times amid the historic buildings.

The nonprofit Colonial Williamsburg Foundation said it suffered operating losses last year of $54 million - or $148,000 per day.

President Mitchell Reiss says Williamsburg attracts half the visitors it did 30 years ago. It also had more than $300 million in debt at the end of 2016.