The management agreements will allow the sites — which include Serpent Mound in Adams County and Fort Hill in Highland County — to be open for more hours, the Society noted.
The Dayton Society of Natural History will take over daily operations of Fort Ancient beginning Aug. 1.
“Management agreements have become increasingly important because of the combination of long-term underinvestment by the state in the Ohio Historical Society and the recent pressure of state budget cuts,” Ohio Historical Society Executive Director William K. Laidlaw Jr. said.
“We are looking at this model to operate the majority of our historic sites and museums to increase access to historic sites and museums,” he said.
Of the Ohio Historical Society’s network of 58 historic sites and museums, 37 now will be operated through management agreements between the Society and a local organization or government entity. The Society aims to operate 47 sites under management agreements.
The Society said it typically provides an annual financial subsidy to help underwrite the costs of day-to-day site operations, and the management group keeps the income from admissions, program fees and rentals.
Fort Ancient will be open April through November, Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday noon to 5 p.m.
On weekends from December through March, the hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Admission to the park and museum: $6 for adults (ages 18 to 59), $5 for seniors (age 60+), $4 for children (ages 6-12), free for children 5 and under.
Admission to the park only is $8 per vehicle. Ohio Historical Society and Dayton Society of Natural History members will be admitted for free.
Fort Ancient is approximately 20 minutes north of King’s Island, off Interstate 71.
The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System will assume operational management of Serpent Mound and Fort Hill on Aug. 1.
The Society said the Serpent Mound State Memorial is an internationally known prehistoric site that is more than 1,000 years old.
Under the new management, Serpent Mound’s museum will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily beginning Aug. 1 through Labor Day. In September and October, it will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends.
Parking fees will remain $7 per vehicle. Ohio Historical Society Members will be admitted for free.
Serpent Mound is on Ohio 73, six miles north of Ohio 32 and 20 miles south of Bainbridge in Adams County. For more, call 1-800-752-2757 or visit www.ohiohistory.org.
Fort Hill is a nature preserve containing an Indian hilltop enclosure. Native Americans, now known as the Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to A.D. 500), constructed the 1 1/2 mile long earthwork hilltop enclosure as well as at least two ceremonial buildings, and probably a village in the Ohio Brush Creek valley below, the Society said.
Fort Hill will continue to be open year-round weather permitting, with closures during deer season and severe winter conditions.
Entrance to the park will continue to be free. The museum will reopen in June 2010 during summer weekends.
The Arc of Appalachia is looking for volunteers to open the museum weekends from Aug. 1 through October. People interested in volunteering may contact the Arc of Appalachia at museum@highlandssanctuary.org.
Fort Hill is off Ohio 41 on Township Road 256, five miles north of Sinking Springs and three miles south of Cynthiana in Highland County.
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