Sometime this summer, probably after Salute to Independence in July, the Antietam visitor center will be closing for a major interior remodeling. There is no projection for a reopening date, however they are estimating a closure of two years.
The building itself is a Mission 66 building so the exterior will be unchanged...and thank goodness for that. It's the interior that will receive a major overhaul. A former colleague informs me that the interior will be gutted except for the museum store which will remain the same. This will include a redo of the museum galleries on the lower level.
The main gallery of the museum has been unchanged for perhaps thirty years. The secondary gallery was installed about six years ago.
What follows is a hodge-podge of photos of the museum galleries as they are today. This is less a narrative and more just a rough inventory, as well as a graphic record that we can use to compare the new museum to when it reopens.
So let's take a long, lingering, last look.
Note that the Hope murals have already been removed for restoration. I am informed that only one will be returned for display, though I don't know which one.
The flag on the right was installed shortly before the 150th.
The grand opening of the "new" museum gallery in the months prior to the 150th.
Much, much more on the relic pyramid here
A little more about Earl Roulette's collection here
Here's hoping that the new one is even better!
Thanks for checking in.
Ten more days until Monocacy.
Ranger Mannie
1 comment:
In the spirit of the old Gettysburg Visitor Center and Cyclorama, the Antietam Visitor Center should be relocated. It sits squarely on some of the bloodiest ground on the entire battlefield, including the advanced position of George Greene's division and the scene of numerous Confederate assaults to dislodge that division from the rise (now the site of the parking lot). In a perfect world with ample funding, the NPS should use this opportunity to relocate the visitor center to a more appropriate site and properly commemorate the fallen who sacrificed under concrete and asphalt.
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