Construction is underway on a new museum/visitor center at the park – a 139,000-square-foot facility that will contain a visitor center, a 24,000-square-foot museum of Gettysburg during the Civil War, a new gallery to display the restored Gettysburg Cyclorama painting, curatorial space, office space, a refreshment saloon, and a book and museum store.
Most of the support structures throughout the building have been built, but most wall coverings and internal structures aren't done yet. Crews have not yet completely finished any areas of the $103 million project, which is being paid for by the nonprofit Gettysburg Foundation.
The new center will include a snack bar, two theaters that will show a 22-minute film about the battle, a place for visitors to check historical records through a computer system and a collections storage area that will allow researchers better access to the park's artifacts and documents. The new center will also include a much larger lobby and a separate entrance for large groups.
The 42-foot-high cyclorama painting of Pickett’s Charge is upstairs. The painting has a circumference of more than 377 feet. Visitors will take an escalator up to a raised platform that
will put them at about eye-level with the horizon on the painting. The painting and platform will be paired with an overhead canopy and a collection of objects in the foreground that should give visitors the illusion of standing in a tent on the battlefield.
A museum room with a sloped ceiling and staggered walls will serve a gallery dedicated to such things as the casualties of the war and the emancipation of slaves. When completed, the museum will include more than a dozen rooms and more than nine interactive exhibits that flow together in one narrative.
Outside the museum, a special-exhibits area will host temporary displays of artifacts from other national parks or even private collections, and an open-storage area will include various artifacts that belong to the park but aren't being used in the museum.
The new museum and visitor center will open to the public next April, but grand opening events will not take place until September.
Funds for the multi-million project are being raised by the Gettysburg Foundation, which will also operate the facility on behalf of the National Park Service. For more information about the Gettysburg Foundation “Campaign to Preserve Gettysburg” go to the website www.gettysburgfoundation.org ,
