Visitors attend the reopening of the Rock Island Arsenal Museum in Rock Island, Ill., on June 29, 2023. (Kelly Haertjens/U.S. Army Sustainment Command)
DAVENPORT, Iowa (Tribune News Service) — The Rock Island Arsenal Museum in Rock Island, Ill., is listed for potential closure, with a final decision weeks away.
F. Lee Reynolds, chief of the Engagements Division and strategic communications officer with the U.S. Army Center of Military History, confirmed the news in an email Monday morning. Reynolds said the proposal includes reducing the Army Museum Enterprise from 41 museum activities at 29 locations to 12 field museums and four training support facilities at 12 locations.
“In support of Army transformation and a focus on directing resources toward readiness and lethality, the Center of Military History has begun a consolidation and reduction of Army museums, a process that will continue through Fiscal Year 2029,” he wrote.
The Arsenal Museum is the second oldest U.S. Army Museum, behind the West Point Museum, which opened in 1854. The Arenal’s initially opened on July 4, 1905.
The museum has been in continuous operation nearly the entire time, pausing during World War I, World War II and during the COVID-19 pandemic. That last closure lasted for four years as the 10,500 square foot museum space underwent a renovation and complete revamp of the collection.
It reopened in June 2023. It is operated by two Government Service employees and is supported by numerous volunteers and interns on a rotating basis, according to the museum’s director Patrick Allie. The RIA Museum is also supported by the Rock Island Arsenal Historical Society, a 501(c)3 private support organization.
Under the current Army Museum Enterprise, Reynolds said, the museums are having a hard time reaching their full potential in regard to educational and historical resources due to a maintenance backlog and insufficient staffing. These challenges also make it difficult to care for the Army’s artifact collection, which is one of the world’s largest, he said.
“The future Army Museum Enterprise is designed to best support soldier training and public education within our available budget and professional staff. The consolidation plan ensures the widest possible access to the highest quality museums within available Army resources,” Reynolds wrote.
If the museum does close, he said, the artifacts will be transferred to another museum or to one of the Army’s Museum Support Centers for storage. There are two Museum Support Centers — one at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for smaller artifacts such as small arms weapons, uniforms and personal equipment, and the other in Anniston, Alabama, for large artifacts such as vehicles, artillery, and aircraft.
Once all the artifacts have been shipped out, the building would be turned over to the installation. Depending on when the closure takes place, this could happen as late as September 2029, Reynolds said.
The completely remodeled museum offers interactive displays from the moment visitors walk in the door. Large displays tell the story of the land from before it was the Rock Island Arsenal all the way to the present day.
Everything from shoes to hats to an 1890s taxidermy horse are on display. The horse was used to test-fit harnesses when the Arsenal was in the height of its leather production to make goods for the time.
The museum is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.
To enter the Rock Island Arsenal, all civilians must obtain a free visitors pass from the welcome center. A Real ID is required to obtain the pass.
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