Arsenal Museum reopens after 3-year, $2 million makeover

Some seven years after Army leaders contemplated closing its doors forever, a completely reimagined Rock Island Arsenal Museum reopened on Arsenal Island to rave reviews on Thursday, June 29.  Typical reactions from the ribbon-cutting attendees who crowded in to see the revamped exhibits included “beautiful,” “wow,” “amazing,” and “I didn’t know that” as visitors read […]

Some seven years after Army leaders contemplated closing its doors forever, a completely reimagined Rock Island Arsenal Museum reopened on Arsenal Island to rave reviews on Thursday, June 29.  Typical reactions from the ribbon-cutting attendees who crowded in to see the revamped exhibits included “beautiful,” “wow,” “amazing,” and “I didn’t know that” as visitors read storyboards, looked at photos and dioramas and tapped interactive screens. 

They also found a few familiar artifacts big and small among the new, including a stuffed horse that still models calvary leatherwork produced on the island from 1885-1921. Standing watch over the result of the three-plus year, $2 million renovation was Arsenal Museum Director S. Patrick Allie, whose vision was on display throughout the completely remade and updated space.  “Those are exactly the reactions I was hoping for; the ‘I didn’t know that;’ the physical “Ah-ha” moments when someone’s reading something and they say, ‘I had no idea they did that on this Island’,” he told the QCBJ.

 He’s hoping for more of the same as visitors take advantage of the museum’s free admissions and regular hours, which are 10 a.m.  to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.  For Mr. Allie and others attending  the ribbon-cutting ceremony,  the updated museum represents the payoff for eight years of laying the groundwork, planning and construction. The reimagined facility is all the more impressive given that earlier effort to close the 118-year-old museum for good.  Charles Bowery, executive director of the Center for Military History, was among those who fought to save the museum, then worked for the right and ability to reimagine it. “I love this place and I love what it means to our Army and our history,” he told the crowd Thursday. The museum has been a critical part of that mission since it opened on July 4, 1905. Back in 2016, however, he said, “We were struggling with staffing the museum. Its exhibits and storyline had become a bit dated.” And he added: “It lacked a focused vision to tell the story of Arsenal and the U.S. Army in this region.” After some Army leaders recommended simply closing it, 400 Quad Citians crowded into a town hall meeting seeking to save it. It was there, Mr. Bowery said that “attendees heard me promise we would figure out a way to keep this museum staffed and operating.” On Thursday, he celebrated delivering on that promise with “a beautiful new facility housed in the historic fabrication building where it's always been. And I think you’ll agree with me if you've seen the inside, that it’s absolutely spectacular.” The museum also serves a critical function as the only one in the arsenal system that still remains in operation and the only one of its museums that tells the story of the nation’s Arsenal operations and its industrial base, Mr. Bowery said. Now, however, it is no longer trying to do that with “an eclectic collection of objects” it is instead a “carefully curated resource for education, professional development and civil and military relations." Importantly, too, Mr. Allie said, the museum is focused not only on what the Arsenal has done in the past, but on what it does today. “It’s a story that even people who have worked on the island for 20 or 30 years don’t fully understand,” he said.  “So this museum really serves as a front porch of the Arsenal to the community,” he added. “This is a place that tells the story of the Arsenal to the community. For many folks, this is the first place where they come into contact with the Arsenal, the Arsenal's history and the Army,” he said. “So that’s really how we really envisioned this to serve all those functions for all those purposes and I think what we have on the floor does that very very well.” Mr. Allie has been part of the effort to make that happen since he came to the Quad Cities after the 2016 town hall. The commitment had been made to the Arsenal Museum by the Center of Military History and it was Mr. Allie’s job as a one-person staff to keep the doors open while also planning its rebirth. Then came the pandemic which shuttered the facility for a year, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. “Frankly COVID did me a favor in so far that it allowed me time where I wasn't having to open up the museum on a daily basis,” he said. It gave him a year “where I was actually able to turn inwards and really focus on the collection. It allowed me to create a better product.” Some of the changes also were the result of what he called  “a lot of informal visitor studies” he conducted while manning the front counter as “an Army of one.” “So there are a number of pieces within this exhibit that are the result of feedback I was just getting from visitors in an informal manner.” He’s particularly proud of the museum’s final section, which he said “really supports what we do at the Arsenal today. That’s something that the previous iteration of the museum didn't easily explore and so what we’ve created is a space that easily tells that history because that's what a lot of visitors were asking about. ‘What do you guys do today’ because where else are they going to learn that?” The exhibit also seeks to answer the question “What do you do in these buildings?” via an interactive piece that allows visitors to search historic maps of the Arsenal from Fort Armstrong to today. The maps feature selectable touchpoints that allow visitors to learn what happened in each of these buildings. In total, Mr. Allie called the museum “an experience that the QC can be proud of, that we can be proud of and that this region can be proud of. And I’m just thrilled to have people actually experience it now.” He also stressed that the museum is free and open to the public and urged Quad Citians to take advantage of the opportunity. So did Mr. Bowery who said, “Our museums are living things and must be used and challenged to reach their full potential. My challenge to all of you is to keep it full of visitors, full of soldiers, full of civilians, full of professionals, full of members of the community, full of tour groups and full of school groups … use the facility all the time.”