| New Museum and Visitor Center Review |
New Gettysburg
Museum, Visitor Center, and Cyclorama
Now Open
Read
the America's
Best History Review of the New Visitor Center (2008) from America's
Best History Here! Review addition of the restored Cyclorama below. |
Once inside the front door, a large lobby opens
up. To the right, the Museum bookstore runs along the entire
front of the building, with entrance from the lobby, the gallery, and
the outside walk where the Tour Buses gather. This was well
designed and is the lightest area of the building. For those
going on a Bus Tour or taking the Trolley Shuttle downtown, this is a
separate area from the parking lots, which was a great idea. The
lobby includes an orientation area for the entire park with a short
film to describe the options of what to do. A large ticketing
counter to the right will take your money for films and the Cyclorama,
licensed battlefield guides, bus tours, and the Eisenhower Tour.
At the far end of the lobby, the information center for the park
rangers sit, with the Refreshment Saloon off to the left. This is
a large restaurant with a stone fireplace, plenty of seating inside and
out, plus a variety of Civil War era foods. It does come with
steep prices, however, unless a $4 hot dog is low in your book. I
get the feeling the outdoor patio will be a popular place in the summer
despite the prices.
The exhibit galleries, film, and Cyclorama dip off to your right midway
back the lobby in a separate area from the orientation. The
entire exhibit area was free of charge upon is opening, but now has ben
twinned with the film and Cyclorama for the $7.50 adult fee. The
museum is a large space with eleven different areas, covering the
entire Civil War, plus Gettysburg, and putting the history in
perspective. The exhibits, which include a film in each area,
plus exhibits with copious amounts of information and artifacts, is
almost a dizzying collection of history. If you wanted to read
everything inside the exhibit gallery and watch every film, it would
take the best part of a day. Even in a quick walk through, where
you watched the films, read a portion of the information, and looked at
some of the artifacts, three hours may be the minimum. Outside
the museum exhibit gallery, there is a tribute to the Rosensteel
family, who gathered up the artifacts from the field after the battle
and built the original Visitor Center, first near Little Round Top, and
later what most of us have known as the Visitor Center on Taneytown
Road. They should be commended by all who value the tribute paid
to the men who fought here and their contribution to the Gettysburg
National Military Park never forgotten. The lack of a current
location to house the Electric Map, which the Rosensteel’s had built
inside the old visitor center and had been viewed by 61 million people
over the decades of its existence, is one of the few negatives about
the new structure. For those that hope that the Electric Map
finds a new home (it is currently scheduled to be put in storage),
visit the website, http://savetheelectricmap.com.
The focus of the new museum and film is contextual in scope. It
provides context to the Battle of Gettysburg by providing information
and exhibits about the cause of the Civil War, its initial battles,
plus the three days of the Gettysburg Conflict, and what came
after. This is a change in some ways to the organization of the
old visitor center, which centered more around the Battle of Gettysburg
than providing that overall view of the war. For some, that will
be an appropriate way of dealing with a museum at the most visited
military park about the Civil War. It will provide the casual
visitor, including many children, with their first true blush into the
entire war itself. For others, it might seem to diminish the
Battle of Gettysburg within its own museum walls, although that is
likely an unfair criticism, as the entire experience of Gettysburg,
including the Cyclorama painting, their walks and tours, plus the 24
square miles of battleground, is Gettysburg dominant. We would
have liked to have seen more artifacts in the exterior exhibit area,
which is still free of charge, although we have heard that more
artifacts are likely to be included in the pre-exhibit holding
area. At this time, the area is largely unused.
The new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center is a spectacular addition
to the landscape of the Civil War and Gettysburg, and will provide for
generations the first taste of what is to come as they visit the sites
of the battlefield, the museums along Baltimore and Steinwehr Avenue,
and the National Cemetery. It will inspire those on their first
visit to pick up a book and contemplate just how valuable the sacrifice
of the 165,000 soldiers who fought the arduous fight on this hallowed
ground for three days in July of 1863, whether Confederate or
Union. It will focus the attention on the details of the battle,
of the words of Abraham Lincoln during his Gettysburg Address, and what
all this means to the history of our nation. This spot was the
High Mark of the Confederacy and Gettysburg, in many ways, the town
where the United States of America was saved from becoming split into
two forever. It is hoped that the new museum will spur visitation
and contemplation of these facts for decades and centuries to come.
The museum was built through a combination of the Gettysburg Foundation
and the park. The project cost $103 million and will be paid off
by the Gettysburg Foundation as it runs the museum for the next twenty
years. It will then be given to the National Park Service free of
charge and debt.
What we liked best:
The exhibits and films about the Three Days of Battle. The
spacious lobby, book and museum store, and ease of orientation to other
things to do outside the visitor center walls. Plenty of parking,
although I get the feeling there still may not be enough for some
summer days. The Trolley Shuttle system to get people to downtown
and back. (Note: Shuttle service was held during the 2008 season
to some locations, but full Trolley Service between the Visitor Center,
the National Cemetery, and the Museums downtown will start in 2009).
A few criticisms:
Lobby and exhibit area are a bit dark. This is understandable, of
course, for keeping artifacts intact, but the lobby could be lighted
better. Exhibits and film provide more context about the war, and
less information about the Battle of Gettysburg than we would
like. Probably about 50:50 right now. Would likely prefer
75% Gettysburg: 25% Civil War.
- Review, America's Best History, April 14, 2008, Update January 2009. |
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| New
Gettysburg Museum, Visitor Center, and Cyclorama Now Open |
|
Read the America's
Best History Review of the New Visitor Center and Restored
Cyclorama Here!
Many
exciting new things happened in Gettysburg over the last year, and more
are coming!
New Visitor Center and Museum
Trolley Service between Visitor Center, National Cemetery, Downtown,
and Museums
Restored Wills House
Restored Ziegler's Grove
Restored Spangler's Farm
upcoming 2012
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