CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- A spokesman for the National Park Service says if there is a partial government shutdown, Fort Sumter in Charleston will close at midnight Friday.
And that will mean the touchstone of Tuesday's 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War will be closed next week.
Park Service spokesman David Barna in Washington says the agency can't keep one site open and close the rest of the nation's almost 400 national parks and monuments. He says if the government shuts down, there is no money for any site.
Barna says the agency will keep only skeleton staffs at parks, which will affect everything from the cherry blossom parade in Washington to next week's events at Fort Sumter.
Some anniversary events not on the National Park Service property will be staged.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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