ASHWAUBENON, Wis. — The National Railroad Museum has opened its new Fox River Expansion, a 21,000 square foot, climate-controlled exhibit hall, which faces the waterway running along the museum campus. The $17 million project is the first of four museum expansion phases and has been nearly 10 years in the making.
The new facility, says Jacqueline Frank, museum CEO, provides additional exhibit areas, updated educational facilities, and more room for revenue-generating rental events. The expansion has an 18,800 square foot main exhibit floor, an additional 2,600 square feet of exhibit space in the mezzanine, a 32-seat classroom, and facilities to support rental events. Additionally, facing the Fox River and the museum’s tracks is a 5,000 square foot covered patio.
With the expansion, the museum’s 33-acre campus has begun a landscaping metamorphosis. “Our outdoor spaces weren’t as accessible as we wanted them to be,” says Frank. “When you’re talking about weather in Wisconsin it changes day to day. If we have 300 [students] here and it starts to rain you can’t put them all outside. This building is going to be vital for us to accommodate more [students] and more programs.”
Between 2010 and 2015, the museum saw a 65% bump in attendance. Facilities were being maxed out between regular patronage, educational programs, special events and facility rentals. During 2015, the museum staff worked to envision what a redeveloped facility could look like. The four-phase plan was announced in 2016. The timeline leading to the expansion opening was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation, especially steel prices. The museum has raised $15.3 million toward the building, but still has to close the funding inflationary gap.
A key feature of the new building is its glassed facade and patio facing the Fox River. The glass wall gives the exhibit hall an open and inviting feel, and provides a wealth of natural light. The patio area — ideal for events or educational programming — takes advantage of the museum’s natural riverfront setting.
Currently exhibited in the new hall are four cars from the museum’s 70-piece rolling stock collection. Included are:
- the Wisconsin 40&8 boxcar from the Merci Train, which will become home to an exhibit focusing on railroads and the Holocaust.
- Lake Mitchell, a Pullman 10-1-2 sleeper, which houses the exhibit Pullman Porters: From Service to Civil Rights, telling the story of porter labor struggles and their influence on American civil rights.
- Joseph Lister, the only remaining of two Pullman cars used on the Chicago & North Western for transporting patients to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
- A Lake Superior & Ishpeming Railroad coach No. 62 built in the 1890s by Barney & Smith.
For additional information about the museum, its expansion plans and educational programs, please visit: www.nationalrrmuseum.org.
