Synopsis:
The new National World War I Museum beneath the Liberty Memorial--a World War I monument dedicated in 1926--is the first and only American museum dedicated to WWI. The interactive museum offers realistic exhibits including a walk-in shell crater, a recreation of No Man's Land and a three-story screen depicting scenes from "the war to end all wars."

Full Story:
The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial opened on Dec. 2, 2006. The museum, which is the only public museum in the U.S. dedicated solely to World War I, has been recognized by Congress as the National World War I Museum. The new museum offers 30,000-square-foot of space beneath the massive memorial. Focusing on World War I and its "lessons of liberty," the museum features high-tech, interactive exhibits and the largest collection of WWI artifacts in North America. The new addition expands the memorial's gallery and exhibition space that is 15 times greater than the Liberty Memorial currently offers. The interactive museum was designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the firm that designed the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.

The new museum is the third and final phase of the renovation of the Liberty Memorial, which was originally dedicated on Nov. 11, 1926, in the presence of President Calvin Coolidge, Queen Marie of Romania and about 150,000 others. On May 25, 2002, the Liberty Memorial was rededicated and reopened to the public following a $90 million renovation. Much of the renovation included stonework repair to the two museum buildings and the Sphinxes that flank the tower, the north wall, mosaic tile entrances and window surrounds on the museum buildings. All courtyards were replaced along with the underlying support posts (some more than forty feet high). The limestone walls, stairs and planters were repaired or replaced. The museum addition follows a $90 million renovation of the exterior and infrastructure, which opened in 2002, and the second phase addition of a 230-seat auditorium and education center that is also beneath the memorial.

The National WWI Museum at Liberty Memorial is the foremost memorial and museum complex in the country honoring those who fought and died in the "Great War." The museum is recognized as having one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of WWI artifacts, relics and archival materials in the world. The collection includes more than 13,000 original photographs, 4,000 books, 1,300 posters, numerous periodicals, diaries and journals, letters and postcards sent by soldiers, sheet music, sound recordings, motion picture films and maps. The reopened Memorial Tower, which overlooks downtown Kansas City, is 217 feet tall and 36 feet in diameter at the courtyard level. Visitors ride an elevator to the top of the tower for a breathtaking view of the city. The Liberty Memorial and Museum is located just south of the nation's second largest rail hub, Kansas City's Union Station.

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Photo Credit: Photos Courtesy of the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association.