Education Center Addition

Background:

 The idea for a military museum was initiated by a group of veterans in 1985. Due to insufficient funds and few possible sites, the idea was put on a back burner. In April 1991 five local WWII veterans Jim Lauderdale, Russ Mueller, Cal Zernicke, Jim Webb and Bud Hjerstedt decided it was time to resurrect the idea of a veterans museum.

 Overcoming obstacles and with determination the Military Veterans Museum was born. Land was donated by Gabert and Rusch in 2007. Building began in September 2010 and was ready for visitors in April 2014. To become more inclusive the Board of Directors decided to alter the building’s name to Military Veterans Museum & Education Center.

 When construction  of the current John E. Kuenzel Motorpool building (phase 1a) was started in 2010, the plan was to add an addition (phase 1b) in a relatively short period of time. Confidence was so high that the actual foundation for the phase 1b addition was laid in as part of the Kuenzel Motorpool construction at the south end of the building. However, the housing crisis of 2008 was also happening in this period, and available discretionary monies dried up stopping major construction progression in 2009. Progress continued slowly until April 2014, when the building was finally opened to the public. 

Now:

 Today our non-profit stands in solid financial condition. We own the current museum building, the land it stands on, and we have no debt. We have also been able to set aside some monies for further construction.

 We have expanded our displays throughout the building to tell more stories about our nation’s military history, and have been able to get more of our artifacts we have in storage on display for the public. This includes two civil war saddles, a navy diving helmet and suit, a communicartions display, and a MASH tent. 

 We have many groups (families, scouts, schools, adult organizations and bus tours) come in for private tours and meetings.

 In addition to being the home of the 359th transportation company, Vietnam, we are happy to be the Charter organization for local Scout groups 641 and 6641.

Our collection includes over 20,000 artifacts, many of them are being stored in a remote location. The building in question is heated, but not fully climate controlled resulting in deterioration of some of our artifacts. 

We feel it is a good time to proceed with the expansion.

Our Plan:

Our new addition will add the following to our current building:

Large room for groups and meetings. (1919 Sq Ft)

Smaller meeting room/library room. (1127 Sq Ft)

Conference room. (336 Sq Ft)

Second floor storage for artifacts. (1160 Sq Ft)

Large area for historic displays. (2731 Sq Ft)

A separate bay for maintenance and restoration of vehicles. (1260 Sq Ft)

Exterior pictures and a floor plan can be viewed below. 

Click the button below to see a walk through video of the interior.

Current estimated cost for the addition is two million dollars. ($2,000,000.00)

Would you like to help us achieve our expansion goal? Click the button below to give a cash donation now. If you are interested in supporting our expansion as a Corporation, please use the button below and contact us today!