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March 31, 2020

Mystic Seaport Museum to close, layoff nearly 200 workers amid COVID-19 outbreak

Photo | Mystic Seaport Museum The Thompson Exhibition Building at Mystic Seaport Museum.
By Joe Cooper

The Mystic Seaport Museum has informed state labor officials it plans to close the facility this week, and will layoff about 199 employees due to a loss of business caused by the “unprecedented” COVID-19 pandemic.

According to notices posted by the Department of Labor on Monday, the museum said the layoffs will take effect Wednesday and “should be considered permanent” as it’s unclear when it will reopen the facility at 75 Greenmanville Ave. in Mystic.

The museum said roughly 34% of its staff are full-time employees. All staff have been notified of the layoffs, officials say.

“This pandemic has crippled the museum’s business causing notice not to be foreseeable at the time that notice would have been required to be given,” Mystic Seaport director of human resources Jeanne Gade said in the notice.

The filings are required by the federal WARN Act, which mandates that employers with more than 100 workers provide advance notice of layoffs affecting 50 or more of their employees at a single site. Mystic Seaport initially announced it would be closing temporarily starting March 13.

According to its most recently available 2017 federal tax filing, Mystic Seaport recorded $19.3 million in revenue and lost $1.4 million that year.

Mystic’s closure comes as Gov. Ned Lamont has ordered all businesses deemed “non-essential” to close to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, an illness caused by a novel coronavirus. 

From Sunday to Monday, an additional 578 Connecticut residents tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 2,571. A total of 113 people have been hospitalized and the death toll is now listed at 36.

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