Marching On: National Museum of American History

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY temporarily shut its doors in 2006 to prepare for a two-year, $85 million renovation. On Friday, the museum will officially reopen to show off its brand-new look, complete with a five-story-high skylight and an atrium of glass and white marble. It's now the Beaux Arts building with a modernist center.

The transformation of the museum's core has turned the once-dark institution — an encyclopedia site for 3 million cultural artifacts such as Julia Child's kitchen and the John Bull locomotive — into a study of light and glass.

"When the building was first designed in the late 1950s and open to the public in 1964, sunlight was a very bad thing for museums with objects. Now we know more than we did, and we know that light in public places is really important," said Patrick Ladden, program manager for the NMAH Restoration. "The architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have taken a 1950s classic and updated it for the 21st century. The materials are similar to the original building, but they're introducing more glass and creating a dynamic public center."

So the firm opened up the first floor to be one long space, and added a glass-and-steel grand staircase to the second floor, which allows sun from the skylight to trickle down.

On the second level, the museum displays the renovation's crown jewel — the new atrium, accessible from the Constitution Avenue side — that boasts a 40-by-19-foot abstract American flag made of 960 reflective polycarbonate tiles on the wall. Behind the sculpture is the collection's prize possession, the Star-Spangled Banner. Housed in a new climate-controlled chamber, the banner is now in a glass case surrounded by historical displays, interactive monitors and benches for reflective rests. The room is dimly lit, mimicking the "dawn's early light" of our national anthem's first stanza.

Constructing the atrium meant gutting the center of the building, and keeping in mind certain green initiatives. The old marble slats from the walls were harvested and recut to use in the new space, and overhead lights were replaced with custom-fit Barrrisol fluorescent fixtures. The cafes now stock their dining rooms with real plates and utensils instead of disposable products, and the mechanical systems were updated to be more energy efficient and to provide the infrastructure and power for interactive exhibitions.

For the museum, it's all about engaging visitors with the collection. "The presentation of American history is always about trying to contextualize what three-dimensional objects are all about and what they mean to Americans," said Ladden.

Another major change to the museum is the addition of 275 feet of glass displays along the walls on the first and second floors. With rotating highlights — everything from vacuum cleaners to antique guitars to wedding-cake toppers — the new cases will offer visitors a first glance at the museum's offerings and a quick option for those with limited time on the Mall.

Although many of the exhibitions in the wings are staying as is, some displays are debuting along with the renovated space. These include the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation's interactive Spark!Lab (complete with scientific experiments), and "Robots on the Road," presenting modern advancements in, well, robots, and a fixed-up Volkswagen Touareg that was used in a race backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

A full schedule of festivities is planned to mark the occasion, including a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday with a program by the Children's Chorus of Washington and an aerial demonstration by the U.S. Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team. Family-friendly activities throughout the weekend will include jazz and folk music performances, photo ops with historical characters and giveaways. And through January, the museum is displaying the Gettysburg Address, on loan from its current home in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom.

But the museum isn't showing all its cards for the opening. Over the next year, NMAH will open more exhibitions, such as "First Ladies at the Smithsonian" slated for December, with dresses, china and knickknacks galore. Then in January, the museum is joining the Smithsonian Institution in celebrating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and will show some 60 objects from the president's life, including the top hat he wore on the fateful night at Ford's Theatre.

» National Museum of American History, 14th Street & Constitution Avenue; Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; 202-633-1000. (Smithsonian)

Written by Express contributor Danielle O'Steen
Photos courtesy Kristoffer Tripplaar