Photo courtesy of Calico Rock Museum
After a major expansion that now includes its fourth historic building, the Calico Rock Museum and Visitor Center is set to officially reopen Saturday morning at 10.
During the expansion, the museum doubled the size of the Sue McCluskey Memorial Birth of the Ozarks Gallery and expanded the history museum by 25%. The new exhibits cover the 1970s-1990s, focusing on trucking, the prison, the airport, the Calico Rock Industrial Development Corporation, economic development, the train depot, the Bootleggers movie, and Main Street’s doors and the communitys revitalization efforts.
The expansion also allowed for the creation of the Ben Sanders Discovery Center, which features exhibits on early Native American dwellingsincluding shelter caves and wickiupsas well as the Ozark Mountain Creekside Experience, pearling and shelling, farming, and weather.
New galleries have been added, with the art center now tripled in size. The museum can showcase its entire 300-piece art collection, including original works by Andy Warhol, Dale Tiffany, Dale Chihuly, Alice Neel, and Thomas Hart Benton.
The museum also built an accessible Archives and Research Department, much-needed storage and workspace for staff and volunteers, and additional meeting spaces and learning centers. Office space for Main Street Calico Rock was also constructed.
Main Street Calico Rock will be open to the public as the first door on Main Street after the bridge. It will serve as a gateway for downtown businesses and as part of the partnership with the Calico Rock Community Foundation to ensure every business in town is represented.
The museum, visitor center and Artisan Gift Shop will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 4.
For more information, call 870-297-6100 or visit www.calicorockmuseum.com.
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