By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
After a complete renovation that took three years the Truman Presidential Library and Museum is once again fully operational.
Aside from the complete renovation the museum also saw limited hours during the same time period.
Presidential Library Director Kurt Graham says that construction projects are always difficult and taxing.
"But when you factor in a pandemic on top of that it has been definitely a challenge, but fortunately a challenge that our crew and the contractors involved were all prepared to meet," Graham tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "They've met it well and the results are just simply stunning, it's a beautiful renovation, it's a beautiful new reconsideration of Truman's legacy."
Graham says one of the big goals with the renovation was to give visitors a variety of ways to learn about Harry Truman.
"Some people are tactile learners, some people want to hear, some people need to see, some people want to touch, I mean there's all kinds of ways that people take in information," Graham explains. "And we really tried to have a diversity."
Graham says that visitors won't see too many of the same types of displays back-to-back, whether that be videos, cases full of artifacts, or even interactive exhibits.
"So, the whole idea was to really bake into that a kind of educational strategy that allowed everyone to sort of get something out of each of the phases of Trumans life as you go through that story," Graham says.
Graham says he has been overwhelmed by the number of visitors to the museum.
"Lots and lots of visitors, I mean our attendance is up, people are enjoying the exhibits, we've had a very robust summer very grateful for that," Graham proudly says. "The people are, you know as we say, voting with their feet they're coming in and they're going through."
Graham says visitors have been amazed by the renovations to the museum. But he says it's their reactions as they're leaving that are always priceless.
"They almost have sometimes a stunned look on their face," Graham explains. "And the thing you hear over and over again is I had no idea, I had no idea that Truman did all that, that he was involved in that many things."
Graham says museum attendance is up 10% from where it was pre-renovations. You can find more information about the museum online.