The Colorado History Museum, the state’s safehouse for treasures from ages-old Indian pottery to 20th-century abstract art, is cutting its budget and shaking up its leadership in an overhaul of the way it does business.

The museum announced Thursday that its top four officials will depart as part of a wide-ranging reorganization of its staff and board. Among those leaving are president and CEO Edward Nichols, who guided the museum through its 2012 move to a new building and oversaw a boom in annual attendance from 57,000 visitors to 200,000, making it a more frequent stop for area families.

Also out are state historian William Convery, chief operating officer Kathryn Hill and vice president of finance Joseph Bell.

The four accepted voluntary buyout offers extended across History Colorado, the state agency that oversees the museum in downtown Denver and nine other historic sites, as well as the state’s archives and its offices that fund preservation projects.

The agency hopes to trim more than $3 million from its annual $26 million budget over the next two years.

Other workers were offered furlough opportunities, such as taking Fridays off without pay. The offers remain on the table, but so far, 10 staffers have taken the buyout and 40 have agreed to reduce their hours.

The state’s history operations receive no direct money from the general budget and are funded mainly through taxes placed on gambling revenues. The money is split evenly between between preservation projects on one side, and museum and education programs on the other.

Those revenues, hurt by the smoking ban in casinos and other rules changes, are less than what they used to be, dropping from the “$12 million-plus range in 2007 to the $9 million-plus range as we look at it right now,” Nichols said.

History Colorado tapped its reserve funds for $2 million during the past few years to make up for the declines and wants to replace the funds. Gambling revenues are expected to continue dropping, so an internal task force recommended an additional $1 million in cutbacks.

Spending cuts

The exhibition and education areas will bear the brunt, with other spending reductions in areas such as travel. No funds will be cut from historic preservation, Nichols said.

The museum side supplements its current annual budget of $15.2 million with admissions, grants and donations. The plan is to figure out how to increase revenues at the box office and to tap the community for more gifts, according to board president Ann Pritz laff.

That process started in April as the museum replaced its 28-member self-appointed board with a nine-member board appointed by the governor. The new setup mirrors the state’s universities, which have been successful luring private donations over the past decade.

Ironically, the financial pressures have come just as the history museum is expanding creatively. Its recent move to a $110 million state-funded building at East 12th Avenue and Broadway increased exhibition space 25 percent, to nearly 200,000 square feet.

The museum has used the space to present a combination of in-house exhibits, including “Living West,” a look at water issues; and flashy traveling shows, such as “1968,” an exploration of the counter-culture movement, and the nostalgic “Toys,” currently in the galleries.

The museum scored meaningfully by booking last fall’s traveling show, “Race: Are We So Different?” at the same time police violence against African-Americans sparked riots in Ferguson, Mo.

Controversy

The timing may have been coincidental, but the exhibit gave Denver a place to talk about its cultural differences. Numerous town meetings took place, and the dialogue was frank.

Nichols, who departs in September but may consult for a time, was at the helm during the move and the expansion of exhibitions. He also oversaw some controversy, including the closing of a 2013 exhibit on the Sand Creek Massacre after Indian tribes objected to the way their ancestors were represented.

Controversy isn’t so unusual at museums, nor are money issues — and over eight years, Nichols was able to overhaul the museum’s exhibition schedule to reflect his vision that history needs to cover ground that is old and current. “This organization has been a magnificent opportunity for me, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said Thursday.

But, he said, he understands the need to reorganize the staff and reduce costs in the short term. He is a reluctant, although willing, casualty of the current situation.

“(Nichols) has done so much for our organization, and we view him as a hero in this,” Pritzlaff said.

Ray Mark Rinaldi: 303-954-1540, rrinaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/rayrinaldi