THEODORE ROOSEVELT INAUGURAL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Renovations give past a new look at Roosevelt site
Try to imagine being swept along in the happy crowd at the Pan American Exposition in September 1901.
None other than President William McKinley has come to see Buffalo’s dazzling celebration of hemispheric trade and its own newfound prosperity. Jubilation surrounds you as you stroll the sunny esplanade, pausing to watch a brief salute to industry produced on Thomas Edison’s grainy black-and- white film.
Then shots ring out — and the course of history is forever changed.
The drama of the McKinley assassination and a young vice president’s sudden rise to national and world leader will set the stage for tours of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, reopening to the public next month after a $2.2 million renovation and expansion.
Completion of the yearlong project will be celebrated with the snip of a ribbon at 4 p. m. today. Dennis R. Reidenbach, regional director of the National Park Service, will speak.
The most obvious upgrade is the return of the carriage house that stood kitty-cornered to the rear of the Ainsley Wilcox Mansion, at 641 Delaware Ave., when Roosevelt was sworn in as president following McKinley’s assassination.
The historic two-story structure, razed in the 1960s, was recreated from scratch, on the original foundation, to house a ticket counter and gift shop on the first floor and community space on the second.
The basement has climate-controlled storage facilities for the museum’s 10,000-artifact collection. The carriage house will be the starting point for what site officials boast will be a museum experience “unlike any other” in Western New York.
Visitors will step through a connecting structure into an orientation room resembling the Pan American Exposition midway. An audio narration, complemented by interactive information stations, sets the scene: Millions of people are beating a path to Buffalo during a period of great national euphoria to hail the dawning of a new century of American political and economic primacy.
The firing of the assassin’s gun abruptly changes the visitor’s mood, much as it deflated the nation’s sense of invincibility in 1901. Tours will move into an “issues room,” where a diorama designed by Boston Productions will feature an audio about major issues the 26th president confronted in 1901.
From there, the tour will proceed to the mansion’s historic rooms.
The second floor will allow leisurely self-tours of interactive exhibits focusing on Roosevelt’s presidency and its continuing relevance.
The site will reopen to the public June 20. Hours will be 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. weekdays and noon to 5 Saturday and Sunday. Admission will be $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and students, and $5 for those ages 6 to 18.
The carriage house alone will open May 31 for the Buffalo Society of Artists spring exhibition, continuing through June, and previews of the carriage house and museum will be available during the Allentown Art Festival, June 13-14.
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