Kansas City, Mo. ? Officials with Kansas City’s Union Station laid off 30 employees Thursday, cut management pay and said attractions at the historic landmark no longer would be open on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Sean O’Byrne, the station’s interim director, said the moves were made to head off a potential $2.5 million budget deficit the rest of this year. O’Byrne said he expected a $4.5 million deficit in 2005 but hoped the cuts and increased revenue would keep the station afloat.

The station, built in 1914 and reopened in 1999 with the help of a $118 million sales tax in three Missouri counties and Johnson County, Kan., has struggled to attract visitors to its Science City children’s museum and exhibit galleries.

Union Station officials cut 25 full-time and five part-time positions, as well as advertising, travel and utilities.

O’Byrne said Mondays and Tuesdays — the days that Science City, the galleries, City Stage and Extreme Screen will be closed — were typically slow.

“We are doing things you have to do for a business to survive,” O’Byrne said.

Mary Bloch, chairwoman of the station’s board of directors, said the failure to get a tax proposal on the August election ballot made the cuts necessary.

“It’s an unavoidable move,” Bloch said. “It’s one we would rather not make, but under the circumstances we have no choice. We need enough cash to last past the end of the year.”