The New Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center
On June 9, 2008, I visited the new Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center. It opened to the public in April and I was to attend a special preview through the Friends of Gettysburg, but was unable to make the trip at the time. The new center is located on the Baltimore Pike, between the Baltimore Pike and the Tanneytown Road. There is ample parking at the center. The new 135 million dollar facility is really nice. Entering into a large lobby area you will find the new book and souvenier shop right near the entrance/exit. In the lobby you will find a ticketing area to purchase tickets for the Eisenhower Farm tour and the new movie, "A New Birth of Freedom" which is shown in the two theaters within the new facility. Each theater seats 150 people and features stadium seating. Three projectors are used to display the images onto a large curved screen. The movie runs approximately 20 minutes, is professionally done, and at times, will send a chill down your spine. It is narrated by Morgan Freeman and Sam Waterston is the voice of President Abraham Lincoln. The cost is $8.00 for an adult and is well worth seeing. Battlefield Guides can also be booked/hired from the ticketing area (the cost for 1 to 6 people is $55 for 2 hours - highly recommended). The National Park also has an area on the far end of the lobby devoted to those having questions about anything within the facility and the battlefield.
The new facility also contains a restaurant where a variety of food and drinks can be purchased. Like all other National Parks, the food service area is contracted out to a private company and prices are not what you could call cheap. A small soda cost me well over two dollars ... not too bad on a real hot day like it was when I was there, but not inexpensive by any means. The restaurant area is roomy and comfortable and there are tables and chairs on an outside area for those wanting to be out in the fresh air.
Moving through the new facility you will enter into the new museum area. Not as many items are on display in the new museum as there were in the old one, but I was told that items will be rotated in and out of the museum, much as they are at the Smithsonian. The museum was done quite nicely, has a lot of displays, and as you walk through is divided up into Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 of the battle. Each section has a short and professionally done movie giving the information as to what happened and where on that day. The old Electric Map was considered to be out-dated and was not installed in the new facility, therefore the video productions are intended to help visitors understand what happened where and when on the battlefield, as the Electric Map had done for so many years. There are quite a number of multi-media displays in the museum that adults and children can use to find out many different things about soldiers, life during the civil war, battles, etc. You will find many photographs on display along with many personal quotes from soldiers to Gettysburg citizens. There is no charge to visit the museum section.
As with any brand new facility, especially one of this magnitude, there will be at least some minor problems showing up. Nothing at all to be concerned with however, and walking through, you should encounter none at all. Overall, this new facility is really very nice ... I think the Gettysburg National Military Park along with the Gettysburg Foundation, the Friends of Gettysburg, along with other organizations and individuals did a super job. It's a beautiful facility.
Thumbs up!