Lowell Milken Center construction complete, ready for tours

Jason E. Silvers/Tribune photo Lowell Milken Center staff, from left, Addi Brown, Mindy Striegel and Dani Gardullo work on placing padding on the bottom of benches that will be used for theater seating inside the new center at 1 S. Main St. Hair dryers had to be used to remove adhesive from the benches. Grand opening events for the new center are scheduled to take place May 23-24.

The finishing touches are being placed on one of downtown Fort Scott's newest additions.

Expansion of the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes is nearing conclusion as construction of a new 6,500-square-foot exhibition hall at 1 S. Main Street has recently been completed.

Staff at the center and others are working now on wiring, setting up electronics, offices and other features of the new building to prepare it for public tours. Staff from the Lowell Milken Family Foundation in Los Angeles, Calif., have visited the center recently to help with work.

The new exhibit hall will include all-new exhibits and displays, including interactive exhibits that will make use of touch-screens, a theater and bench seating, a conference room, a life-sized apple tree, and several other features. A new Hall of Heroes will be located at the site of the disastrous 2005 downtown fire.

"Current exhibits featuring local unsung heroes can be viewed in the new center," Lowell Milken Center Program Director Megan Felt said. "They will be more in depth and more of an experience rather than just viewing."

Expansion of the center is an approximately $1.5 million investment by the Lowell Milken Family Foundation in California.

The exhibits will feature the stories of the past museum, such as Irena Sendler, a Polish nurse and social worker who saved about 2,500 Jewish children from the Holocaust during World War II, and new enhanced exhibits.

About 3,500-square-foot of the new building will be exhibit space, Felt said.

Norm Conard, executive director of the center, said the new center will feature exhibits on many of the same stories that can be viewed in the current facility, but will be enhanced.

"We'll also be adding new exhibits every quarter of the year," Conard said.

Staff at the center have scheduled grand opening events in May and plan to make the facility available for tours.

Staff have also coordinated a wine and cheese reception to take place at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22 in the new center.

"They can come over to our present location and we'll take them through the building anytime," Conard said. "We've done a number of tours already."

On Monday, May 23, events will include presentations by students and Milken Fellows at 9 a.m. at the Liberty Theatre, 113 S. Main St., a symposium event at 2 p.m. at the Liberty Theatre and student presentations at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Theatre. A grand opening for the new center is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 24.

Regarding the grand opening events, center staff have said there are limited reservations available and are requesting that those who would like to attend the events to contact the center as soon as possible.

"We will have students and teachers presenting and special presentations by some unsung heroes themselves," Felt said.

Felt said staff are hopeful the center will draw more visitors to the downtown area, providing a boost for local tourism.

"We're very excited to be centered in downtown and stay in downtown," she said. "We see this as being a destination location and we hope to definitely increase tourism. There's a huge interest for people around the region and across the U.S. and the world."