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| DESCRIPTION: Opened in December 2006, the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial serves as the first American and only national museum dedicated to The Great War. Designed by Ralph Appelbaum and housed beneath the existing Liberty Memorial, the 30,000-square-foot core exhibit features more than 50,000 artifacts -- the world's second largest WWI collection behind Britain's Imperial War Museum. |
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| ADDRESS: 100 W. 26th Street, Kansas City, Mo. |
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| LOCATION: Located in midtown Kansas City, near Crown Center and Union Station, and just south of the intersection of Pershing Road and Main Street. |
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| PHONE: 816-784-1918 |
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| WEB SITE: www.nww1.org |
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HIGHLIGHTS:
- The National WWI Museum provides visitors with an unparalleled educational and entertainment experience, sharing the sights and sounds of WWI through the latest audio and video technologies, hands-on displays and realistic battlefield scenes. Almost 85 percent of the museum's collection has never been seen by the public.
- Each visitor's journey begins with a surreal walk across a glass-floored bridge. A lush field of 9,000 red poppies lies below, each flower representing 1,000 military deaths.
- A large-scale, multi-layered timeline presents interwoven stories, sharing the domestic, social and cultural impacts of the war to convey the individual and diverse experiences of war.
- A walk-in shell crater — more than 20 feet in diameter and approximately 15 feet deep — demonstrates the level of damage left by artillery shells during WWI. Other key exhibits include a chilling recreation of No Man's Land, a 90 foot-long replica trench and a three-story screen depicting scenes from "the war to end all wars."
- Memorial Tower stands 217 feet tall and is capped with four large stone figures representing Courage, Honor, Patriotism and Sacrifice.
- Liberty Memorial's two original museum buildings flank both sides of the Tower. Memory Hall features the massive painting In Memoriam and a bronzed list of Kansas Citians lost in the war. Exhibit Hall features another masterpiece, The Pantheon de le Guerre, plus a giant British naval gun and other thematic displays.
- Two stone Sphinxes — Memory and Future — guard the Memorial's south entrance.
- The complex also features the J.C. Nichols Auditorium, a 230-seat auditorium that hosts films and lectures series throughout the year.
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| HOURS: Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun. The tower closes at 4:15 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. |
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| ADMISSION: Museum & Tower: Adults $10, seniors $8, children aged 6-11 $5. Museum Only: Adults $8, seniors $7, children aged 6-11 $4. Tower Only: Adults $4, seniors $3, children aged 6-11 $3. Military personnel and children under 6 are admitted free. |
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| HISTORY: Dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge in 1926, the Liberty Memorial consists of Memorial Tower, two exhibit halls and the new museum. Major restoration of Liberty Memorial began in 1998, following the approval of a half-cent sales tax. In 2004, Kansas Citians overwhelmingly passed a bond issue to construct the new museum. It was recognized by Congress as the National WWI Museum that same year. This September, the U.S. Department of Interior designated Liberty Memorial a national historic landmark. |
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| WHERE TO GET LUNCH: Grab a bite at nearby Crown Center or Union Station. Both feature restaurants with menus to match any budget. |
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| WHAT'S NEARBY: The museum is minutes away from several Kansas City attractions. For starters, explore Science City and the Kansas City Rail Experience at Union Station. Then tour the Hallmark Visitors' Center and enjoy a performance at the award-winning Coterie Theatre in Crown Center. |
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| HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES: Interactive study stations allow visitors to explore WWI in greater detail, by presenting decision-making scenarios and Q&A's with historians. |
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| DID YOU KNOW: Designer Ralph Appelbaum has been involved in more than 120 museum projects in the last 25 years. His previous works include the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. His firm, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, is the largest interpretive museum design firm in the world. For more information, visit www.raany.com. |
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| DON'T FORGET: Take time to see one of the best views in the city. For a small additional fee, take a short elevator ride to the top of the 21-story Liberty Memorial Tower for an impressive and unobstructed view of the Kansas City skyline. |
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| GROUP TOURS: Please call 816-784-1926 to schedule school and tour group visits. These visits should be scheduled at least 48 hours in advance. |
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| PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Take the MAX to the Liberty Memorial stop. |
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DRIVING THERE: From the north: Take I-35 South to the Broadway exit. Turn left on Broadway Boulevard and continue to travel south. Take the first left (29th Street). Turn left at Wyandotte. Follow it to the entrance of the Liberty Memorial.
From the south: Take I-35 North to the Broadway exit. Turn right on Broadway Boulevard and continue to travel south. Turn left on Pershing Road and then right on Kessler Road. Follow it to the entrance of the Liberty Memorial.
From the west: Take I-70 East to I-670. Then merge onto I-35 South. Take the Broadway exit. Turn left on Broadway Boulevard and continue to travel south. Take the first left (29th Street). Turn left at Wyandotte. Follow it to the entrance of the Liberty Memorial.
From the east: Take I-70 West to I-35 South. Take the Broadway exit. Turn left on Broadway Boulevard and continue to travel south. Take the first left (29th Street). Turn left at Wyandotte. Follow it to the entrance of the Liberty Memorial.
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| PARKING: Free in the driveways directly south of the museum's entrance. |
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| PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTACT: Denise Rendina, director of marketing & communications, at 816-784-1945 or drendina@lmakc.org. |
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