The ongoing reconstruction of the Cincinnati Museum Center means the utilization of new space. Museum CEO Elizabeth Pierce says with more efficient utilities, the center has room to grow. She says that means new classrooms and expanded exhibits around the Public Landing.
"You will be able to walk through the door of J.P. Ball's Photo Shop and go into another exhibit gallery. Or go down the Brown Boat Yard or through the Commercial Bank. We're still figuring out a lot of those pathways but the idea is that we really want the Public Landing to be a place of storytelling and a jumping off point for other aspects of regional history," she says.
Museum and contractor officials led a tour around Union Terminal Thursday morning. They showed off the rebuilding of the outside wall of the dome, new HVAC units, and repairs to masonry.
Contractors have also set up a tent inside the Museum Center.
Senior project manager Steve Swisher says the Duke Energy train exhibit is in that tent. It's in its new permanent home, underneath the museum's plaza, which is also under construction. Swisher says water can leak through the ground into that space.
"That's why this tent system is here. With a full gutter system and humidity control."
Museum spokesman Cody Hefner says the display is over 70 years old, and is very fragile. They've been stored under cover during construction rather than moved off-site.
"So even just moving them down the hallway was something that caused a lot of anxiety and was done very carefully and with a lot of coordination."
When the reconstruction is over in November 2018, the trains will also be closer to the ground so kids can see them more easily.
