CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Sunday marks the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and local businesses are still feeling the effects.
Many national parks are closed including Fort Sumter, but on Tuesday the national monument will be open for visitation.
Rick Mosteller is a partner with Fort Sumter Tours. He said business has slowed down for Fort Sumter tours because the company has not been able to provide boat rides to the fort. Mosterller said they have taken matters into their own hands.
“We just agreed yesterday afternoon to an agreement from our company, Fort Sumter Tours, will donate money to the national park service that they can use to fund the operation of the fort,” Mosteller said.
Fort Sumter National Monument is one of seven national parks and historic sites in South Carolina. Due to the government shutdown, tourists have not been able to visit Fort Sumpter.
Instead they have had to get creative to try and make up for the lost revenue.
Fort Sumter tours has been providing non-stop harbor tours that go as close as possible to the fort as possible without getting off the boat.
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