Washington Crossing Historic Park is closing 5 p.m. Friday due to lack of state funding, but thanks to the Bucks County Visitors Bureau, the beloved Christmas Day reenactment that has to do with the birth of America, not the birth of Christ, will live on.
Officials have closed the visitor’s center, gift shop and cancelled all tours and programs at the historic park named for that famous Christmas Day in 1776 when George Washington and his Continental Army crossed the Delaware River and won the Battle of Trenton – a turning point in the War for Independence.
In an effort to at least save the famous event, which attracts more than 10,000 onlookers every Christmas, the visitor’s bureau has become the official licensee of the reenactment, says its Public Relations Manager Michelle Greco. The bureau took emergency efforts, which included the creation of Friends of Washington Crossing Web site that will go live next week in order to collect donations and attract volunteers.
The bureau is also currently in talk with the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission to re-open the park and staff it locally, but Greco says this could happen in two weeks or not at all.
State budget cuts are at the root of the park’s closure. While the land itself will be accessible to the public, there is no funding for staff or maintenance.
