Photo By Roger RyDell Daniels | Workers are building a new roof on the new home for the Fort Stewart Museum. The...... read more read more
Staff Sgt. Roger RyDell Daniels
Warrior Transition Battalion
FORT STEWART, Ga. - The Fort Stewart Museum has closed and will soon vacate its site of more than 35 years to make way for the road widening project of Veterans Parkway traveling in and out of the post that has been nearly 10 years in the making.
The closure is only temporary as the museum is scheduled to reopen after moving into another Fort Stewart building, which is currently being renovated, later this year.
“The road widening will physically impact the present museum structure,” said Walter Meeks III, the museum director since 1998. “I’m sad to see building 904 go away, but the community is going to be better off in the long run, we’re going to have a better road, and a better way to get on and off post if you use that gate."
The museum officially closed to the public on Jan. 26.
“This is a temporary closure and we expect to be unavailable to the public for some months,” Meeks said. “We’re not going away.
Meeks said they have until March 15 to be completely out of their long-time location. To accomplish this, they’re moving all of their artifacts and exhibits to the Fort Benning, Ga., Museum and another location in northern Alabama.
He said it will take at least five trips to completely move the artifacts and exhibits to their two holding spots.
When the museum reopens at Fort Stewart, it will do so in a newly renovated building 506, which is location at 158 Cavalry Way. The building used to be the headquarters of 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry, 3rd Infantry Division.
Meeks said the new museum site has about 14,000 square feet, about three times the size as the old location, which opened in 1977 and has expanded four times.
Workers are currently putting a new pitched metal roof on the new building. Work will take about six months to finish barring no financial setbacks.
“When we do open again, we hope to come back with a first class space, three times the size, and bigger and better than ever,” Meeks said. “We’re going to have much improved exhibits. We’re going to do some of the things we didn’t have the physical space to do and that’s something we look forward to eagerly.”
The museum will look to showcase state of the art and purposed-built exhibits with more large artifacts such as tanks and trucks that are currently outdoors moved inside.
One of the exhibits planned is the track vehicle used by Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith, the latest of Fort Stewart’s 51 Medal of Honor recipients. They also have part of the wall from the guard tower he engaged when he earned the medal.
The new space will include about 1,200 square feet dedicated for ceremonies, more parking, and better restrooms.
It will also help erase one of Meek’s fears of fire destroying the old wooden building.
“Wooden structure burn, they can catch fire and they burn, he said. “We’re moving into a masonry structure where the risk of fire is severely minimized. We’re even closer to the fire department and we’re right next to a battalion of MPs, I think we’re moving into a good neighborhood.”
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2013 11:29 |
| Story ID: | 101480 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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