Groundbreaking reopening
Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum offers new amenities after three-month closure
It's not unusual to find visitors waiting for the doors to be unlocked when the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum opens in the morning.
But Executive Director Kari Watkins was unusually happy to find early birds waiting Wednesday morning.
“It was so great to see visitors. ... The first two that came in were a family from Texas and a family from Nebraska, both who had young kids. So they're teaching the story to the next generation,” she said.
Three months after it closed in response to the coronvirus pandemic, the downtown museum reopened to
the public Wednesday with a new parking garage, two new exhibits and a new augmented reality experience.
“It's groundbreaking. We are doing stuff that no one else is doing with augmented technology, and we really hope it resonates,” Chief Technology Officer Dustin Potter said.
Unfortunate timing
The three- month closure was the longest in the museum's history.
“We didn't have any more obstacles than anyone else did, but it was a big year, and our timing was messed up by COVID. But we tried to make the very best of it,” Watkins said.
The 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing was April 19, but instead of welcoming crowds paying their respects, the memorial was closed. A prerecorded remembrance ceremony aired online and on television.
“Putting the barricades around the outdoor site the week of April 19 was very hard to do. But we felt like we had to do it,” Watkins said, adding that the outdoor memorial reopened about a month ago.
“The positive of COVID is that ceremony probably was seen by 10 times as many people because people were stuck at home and appreciated the hourlong broadcast that told the story.”
Financial impact
The memorial found ation launched this year a 25th anniversary “Looking Back Thinking Forward” capital campaign with a $14 million goal.
“Oklahomans and people from around the country have been very generous, and we're a little over halfway on that campaign. But again, we lost 90 days like everybody else did,” Watkins said. “It's a huge financial impact.”
The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum receives no annual government funds and depends on admissions.
“We probably lost a million dollars easily in those 90 days,” she said. “Normally, we have 1,200 to 1,500 people a day in the summer. At max, we'll do 400 today, and that's all income we're not getting ... because we can't be at full occupancy.”
The institution announced Tuesday it had received a $1 million donation from Paycom CEO Chad Richison to help the museum reopen and grow its endowment.
“Chad's gift and many others have helped sustain this place,” she said.
Coronavirus precautions
After t hree days of pri - vate test runs, the museum reopened to the public at 25% capacity. Admission is granted in timed intervals to limit the number of visitors in the building, and people are encouraged to go online and reserve i n advance to guarantee entry. Visitors are required to wear masks inside the museum.
“We give you a little stylus so you can still engage in all of the interactives. ... You don't have to touch things, and I think people appreciate it,” Watkins said.
“For my kids and younger kids, that's how they learn the story is by touching a screen. ... We worked too hard five years ago to get that layer added to the museum that I wasn't just going to turn it off.”
Added amenities
The museum is finally getting to offer new amenities that were planned for April, including one aimed at young guests.
Its new parking facility is open at NW 6 and Harvey Avenue, where visitors can park for free with paid admission. Once inside, visitors can tour two new exhibits.
In the lobby, the 25th anniversary exhibit chronicles how t he memorial and t he community have progressed together over the last quart er- century. Potter said i t incorporates artifacts ranging from autographed boots donated by Charles Barkley to the groundbreaking shovel used by former Vice President Al Gore.
As they leave, Watkins said visitors will go through a new exhibit encouraging them to live the “Oklahoma Standard.”
“When we were designing that over the last year, I don't think we could have imagined the world in which we opened. There were protesters outside the federal courthouse (Wednesday) morning when we opened, and we were part of the vandalism that took place here a couple of weeks ago,” she said. “At the same time, what happened here 25 years ago can still teach lessons today. So, when we say `rise up to honor,' `step up to be kind' and `stand up to serve,' those are things we can all do and are as relevant today.”
But technology has changed dramatically in the past quarter-century, and Potter said the museum has been worki ng for the past year on i ts new “St r onger Together” Augmented Reality Experience.
The museum overhauled its Android and Apple mobile app for the AR experience.
“Looking through their phone, they will see a person who represents a family member, a survivor, a first responder, an investigator, a journalist and a volunteer ... and they'll follow their stories throughout the museum,” he said.
The AR experience incorporates 3-D renders, polls, video and more.
“As far as I' m aware, no museum in the world is using augmented reality like this. . . . You'll be able to see the Survivor Tree and stand under it inside the museum. You'll be able to see the Murrah building before it was bombed, and you'll be able move around it in the gallery space,” he said.
“It is for everyone, but we targeted a younger group of people so that the experience mattered a little more to them.”
For more information, go to memorialmuseum.com.