The Roanoke Times l File 2002

The National D-Day Memorial Foundation has an annual budget of about $2.2 million — about $600,000 of which is generated by visitors. The rest comes from contributions, which have slowed.

The Roanoke Times l File 2001

The National D-Day Memorial, which was dedicated in front of a large crowd in Bedford in 2001, has been plagued by debt.

The Roanoke Times l File 2002

The foundation's president says one solution would be for an umbrella agency to take over the memorial.

BEDFORD -- The National D-Day Memorial is running out of cash, William McIntosh, president of the memorial's foundation, said Thursday afternoon.

The problem is so dire the World War II memorial honoring the largest land, air and sea operation in military history is at risk of closing -- and the news comes just days before a major celebration planned for D-Day's 65th anniversary.

"Obviously everybody is hurting for cash," said John Sharp, chairman of the Bedford County Board of Supervisors. "It doesn't surprise me they are, too. That's disappointing to say the least."

Since the memorial opened in 2001, the foundation has been besieged with problems: millions of dollars in debt, Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a high-profile alleged fraud case in federal court.

All debts were paid off in late 2006; the problems the foundation faces today are new.

"We're in a cash-poor state, as many nonprofits are," said McIntosh, who said Thursday that he is retiring in 2010.

The foundation currently has about $300,000 in "unrestricted" cash and maintains an endowment of $400,000, he said. It is unclear exactly how long the memorial can operate on those funds, but before closing, the foundation's board of directors would enact cost-savings measures, such as furloughs or other payroll reductions, McIntosh said.

The foundation operates on a $2.2 million annual budget. About $600,000 -- or about 27 percent -- is generated by the guests who visit the memorial through ticket sales, tours and gift shop proceeds. The rest comes from contributions, and that revenue flow has slowed with the economy.

A significant infusion of cash, such as a $32 million endowment, is needed to sustain the operation, but McIntosh said that "still would not be enough to do any more than we are doing now."

Something has to be done, he said, because the current model is not sustainable.

"The board of the foundation is not supposed to take on additional debt or any debt beyond the obvious day-to-day operations of the memorial," McIntosh said.

Another possible fix for the memorial would be for an umbrella agency to take over operations. The ideal fit, McIntosh said, is the National Park Service, a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Bedford County Administrator Kathleen Guzi said the county would be glad to have the park service step in, because taking over the memorial isn't something that interests the county.

"I don't think it would make sense for us to run a national monument," she said.

But the memorial is not something the county or Bedford city would want to lose altogether, especially after the two localities invested $2.4 million in a welcome center nearby. Bedford Mayor Skip Tharp did not return a phone message left Thursday afternoon.

Kevin Hall, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, confirmed the senator's office has been contacted about having the National Park Service take over the monument.

"Our office has had preliminary conversations with the folks at the Memorial about their current situation, and we are actively working with them to explore the potential options," Hall wrote in an e-mail late Thursday.

Warner was returning from a trip to Iraq and could not be reached for comment, Hall said.

"I think it [the D-Day Memorial] should become a pendant to the National World War II Memorial," McIntosh said. "If D-Day is the climactic battle of the war and it receives, relatively speaking, scant attention at the World War II Memorial, it might be appropriate to have someplace to have a closer look at this one fight."

Bedford was chosen as the site for the D-Day Memorial because the community suffered the highest per capita loss in the first wave of combat during the mission in 1944. Nineteen of 32 servicemen who joined the Virginia National Guard in Bedford died.

According to the foundation's most recent 990 tax form found on the Internet, the highest paid staff members are McIntosh: $120,000; director of development Jeffrey Fulgham: $68,623; chief of staff Betty Garrett: $66,650; and director of education April Cheek-Messier: $61,523.

McIntosh said Thursday the board will launch a national search for the foundation's next president after next week's 65th anniversary festivities. McIntosh, 65, said he intends to retire June 30, 2010. He has worked for the foundation for more than 12 years and has served as president since shortly after the memorial opened in 2001.