Following the conclusion of ArtPrize Seven, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum will close for the next eight months.

WZZM-13 reports that crews will be installing new permanent interactive exhibits along with other renovations.

A "topping off ceremony" was held Monday to commemorate the laying of the last beam on the new DeVos Learning Center, which is set to be completed in Fall 2016.

Steve Ford son of President and First Lady Ford, told WZZM-13,

"We've talked about it for years. We've always had the museum there where you have the artifacts, displays, and history and everything. We've always had students going through it, yellow school buses out there all the time; But we've never had a classroom. So we're adding on the new Devos Learning Center strictly to have a classroom to sit those kids down, teach them about character, integrity, leadership, civics."

On the Gerald R. Ford Foundation website, Trustee David Freya shared,

"The vision of this addition is to attract students of all ages to the Museum and provide online access to the Museum’s and Library’s incredible holdings. This expansion will let individuals explore the Ford Presidency, the lives of Gerald and Betty Ford and a significant number of historical documents associated with the history of our nation during the 1974-1977 time period.”

 

More From 97.9 WGRD