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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Talk > Civil War Museums > New Gettysburg Visitor Center |
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Civil War Interactive Discussion Board > Civil War Talk > Civil War Museums > New Gettysburg Visitor Center |
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| New Gettysburg Visitor Center | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29th, 2008 11:52 am |
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21st Post |
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pamc153PA Member
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Doc, I only know on LBG well, but that's usually where I meet him when I go out to G-burg. I agree with you--and to use the restrooms! Pam
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29th, 2008 12:05 pm |
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22nd Post |
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gettysburgerrn Member 
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New development: they are going to start charging for admission to the museum portion of the VC..it would seem that the small percentage of people paying 8 bucks for the 22 minute movie isnt cutting it... ken
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| Posted: Mon Sep 1st, 2008 11:18 am |
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23rd Post |
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gettysburgerrn Member
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Dont worry if they charge too much the parking lot won't be bonkers...admitedly 8$ for the movie was a bit steep. Exactly as Pam said..since the Gettysburg foundation is a private organization a certain profit margin is necessary and must be met. What is more American than that.. KEn
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21st, 2008 08:08 pm |
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24th Post |
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j harold 587 Member 
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Just got back from the 'berg for the Friends of Gettysburg fall Muster. Did go to the visitor center. Cost to see the film, cyclorama, and museum $7.50 for my wife, as a member I was admitted at no cost. As stated in an earlier post due to reflections some of the identification was dificult to read. Possibly due to wearing glasses. My biggest complaint was I would have liked to have had more time to view the cyclorama with all the lights up. The painting was a real joy had a great audio and light presentation. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the battle however the emphasis on revelancy to the entire conflict was probably more educational. I can see how parking at high use times would be a problem. I also understand that once demolition of the old visitors center and cyclorama building are completed the parking there will also be gone. The book store is a lot more tourist oriented (trinkets & low cost kid friendly), but also had an antique music box @ $9,999.00 and you could buy new disks for it as well. The number of books was about the same however the variety of subjects was not there. I am particulary interested in Chaplains and Ohio units and found none.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 28th, 2008 11:49 pm |
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25th Post |
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pamc153PA Member
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Just talked to a friend who was at Gettysburg over the weekend. He and his family went to see the Cyclorama painting, along with the film, at $7.50 a pop. His disappointment was with the cyclorama, not so much the film. He said that the time each group has to view the painting was about 15 minutes, with a narration of various parts of the painting. He said they also had trouble seeing parts around the crowd. He said that what they saw was terrific, but he didn't like very much being herded in and out like cattle with a very limited time to view the painting. I just read a very similiar letter written to The Civil War News. The person who wrote it felt the same way about much of the same things. She also mentioned that none of the guides doing the "crowd control" told anyone they should move around to get a good view, so most people just stood there, expecting to be able to have more time to view the painting. I suppose, just like with the film and the museum itself, that most people don't want to spend a large amount of time viewing the painting. Most want to get an overview, and then go. But I really think a 15 minute viewing time limit does a disservice to the painting itself. If you look at it from either a Civil War perspective, or purely an art perspective, you need more than a "hurry up and look" chance to really appreciate it. I wonder if I could pay the $7.50, and skip the film, and see the painting twice instead?! Has anyone experienced these things at the cyclorama? I won't be out there until Remembrance Day in a month. Pam
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| Posted: Thu Apr 30th, 2009 07:32 pm |
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26th Post |
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Old Sorrel Member 
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Finally got to visit the new visitor center and I was highly disappointed. From the lack of parking to THE fee that they now ask for......the lack of artifacts on display....what the heck happened to all the artifacts that old center had?........the price of food is outrageously expensive......most of the rooms in the center are about other stuff besides Gettysburg....and as soon as you walk in your smacked in the face with the indoctrination about slavery......I recommend that if you haven't seen it yet...dont......go spend your money and time to those in town. JMHO. Last edited on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 07:34 pm by Old Sorrel |
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| Posted: Fri May 1st, 2009 04:37 am |
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27th Post |
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The Iron Duke Member 
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Why not just ask CWPT for a bailout? They must be doing something to get on the Top 10 Endangered Battlefield List 4 years in a row now... Last edited on Fri May 1st, 2009 04:38 am by The Iron Duke ____________________ "Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill |
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| Posted: Fri May 1st, 2009 03:42 pm |
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28th Post |
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Old Sorrel Member
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What up Duke..............well, there's a constant threat of development surrounding the battlefield.....a new hotel going up next to the cemetery.....a country club located next to the 1st days battlefield is up for sale........the whole casino issue....and on and on.... BTW, whats this have to do with the visitor center? Just asking is all. 
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| Posted: Sat May 2nd, 2009 12:14 am |
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29th Post |
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The Iron Duke Member
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Ken mentioned that the VC will now start charging people for admission because of lack of funds. That's why I made the tongue-in-cheek comment about getting a bailout. I think it's farcical that Gettysburg has made the Top 10 List four years in a row.
____________________ "Cleburne is here!" meant that all was well. -Daniel Harvey Hill |
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| Posted: Sun May 3rd, 2009 07:49 pm |
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30th Post |
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Old Sorrel Member
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Gotcha, a bailout..lol...they might need it. From the people I've talked to it hasn't gotten very good reviews. They spent way to much money on it.... I believe Gettysburg keeps getting on the list is because of the constant threats of development being waged against the battlefield. Take this country club for instants...if someone doesn't stand up(CWPT) and purchase this ground...we're all gonna be looking at hundreds of homes instead of precious ground where parts of the 1st day battle took place...And now I heard of a possible water park being proposed...man...that would suck....I believe IMHO, these are the reasons....it seems to be a non-stop fight.....Good Day to you Duke
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| Posted: Fri Jun 5th, 2009 07:03 pm |
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31st Post |
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fedreb Member 
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Went to see the cyclorama late on a Tuesday afternoon about an hour before closing. Me, my wife and only seven other people, were able to see ( and photograph) everything throughout the presentation and nobody moved us on afterwards until we were ready to go. I loved it, the presentation of this great work of art is first class. The museum, though not Gettysburg specific, is, as most things are these days, designed to be Educational and I think they have made a good job of it. Museum cafeterias I stay well away from, you know that on entry you are going to be ripped off! The gift shop is , again, just high priced tat, pretty poor really. The books they had are all available on the net at cheaper prices. We found a much better little gift shop in the museum at the hotel where we stayed at Gen. Lees HQ. I regard the $55 that I paid for LBG Richard Bellamy to take me on a one on one tour of Barlows Knoll, Culps Hill and then the Wheatfield as the best money spent in my two and a half weeks in the States.
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| Posted: Sat Jun 6th, 2009 02:22 am |
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32nd Post |
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19bama46 Member
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fedreb wrote: Went to see the cyclorama late on a Tuesday afternoon about an hour before closing. Me, my wife and only seven other people, were able to see ( and photograph) everything throughout the presentation and nobody moved us on afterwards until we were ready to go. I loved it, the presentation of this great work of art is first class. The museum, though not Gettysburg specific, is, as most things are these days, designed to be Educational and I think they have made a good job of it. Museum cafeterias I stay well away from, you know that on entry you are going to be ripped off! The gift shop is , again, just high priced tat, pretty poor really. The books they had are all available on the net at cheaper prices. We found a much better little gift shop in the museum at the hotel where we stayed at Gen. Lees HQ. I regard the $55 that I paid for LBG Richard Bellamy to take me on a one on one tour of Barlows Knoll, Culps Hill and then the Wheatfield as the best money spent in my two and a half weeks in the States. I agree... gee Gaws (trinkets) do not impress me, the VC is bigger but not better.. The LBG's are worth every penny ... you can design your own tour as we did on our last vist... East calvary field, Culps hill, and Devils Kitchen.. the lbg asked if we had ancestors who fought there and we replied that we did not..his rssponse, was that one in 5,000 wanted to go to the east Calvary Field, 1 in 10,000 wanted to go to Culps hill and 1 in 50,000 wanted to see the Kitchen.. He then took us and gave us a history lesson on each of the sites, then took us on the more regularily travelled sites. His comment was that the vast majority of his clients had either read THE KILLER ANGELS or had seen Gettysburg and all they want to see is those sites..
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| Posted: Mon Jun 8th, 2009 03:07 pm |
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33rd Post |
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CoryB Buford Trooper 
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Hello all, My first trip to the new VC echoes many of the same sentiments already expressed. The first time I went was I believe in May '08. When I went through the mueseum, it was free. I went back to the VC in April '09 and it now cost money to go through the museum and you automatically got a ticket to the Cyclorama. Now maybe there was just a miscommunication, but is anyone else encountering the same change? In terms of the VC. I think its great for people who have never been to Gettysburg at all, but it just doesn't grab me. All the exhibits are well done, (Agree about the empty space,) but I find myself getting restless while I'm there. I'd rather be out on the actual field and taking in the majestic nature of the hallowed ground that is literally just minutes away. I don't know about everyone else but thats just how I feel. It's almost like when you are getting dressed for the day and you wonder what the tempature is, you go to your computer for a number, rather than going outside and finding out for yourself. I mean I know you can't put certain things out on the battlefield like uniforms, equipment, ect, but if you are lucky enough to find reenactors or have the ability to hire a LBG, I'd say just skip the often crowded VC. (Unless of course you are picking up your guide ;-) )
____________________ "War does not determine who is right-only who is left." ~Anon http://hauntedhousewriter.blogspot.com/ |
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| Posted: Mon Sep 21st, 2009 10:03 am |
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34th Post |
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Maverick 45th Alabama Inf., Co. F 
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I've never visited Gettysburg NMP or the Visitor's Center. Reading of the recent changes, I don't think I'm missing anything, either. My primary interest in visiting a Civil War battlefield is directly centered upon the battle and it's participants. I could care less for a general history lesson on the 'causes' of the war. To members of CWI who have visited Gettysburg's new VC: Do you think the changes to the Park was needed and overdue, and is more beneficial, and honors the memory of the soldiers who fought and died there.....or, are the new interpretations and changes to the Park, typical American PC, indoctrinating, disappointing ? Is it this: "For the past 100 years, we've been presenting this battlefield as the high watermark of the Confederacy and focusing on the personal valor of the soldiers who fought here," said Gettysburg Park Superintendent John Latschar. ....or this? "We want to change the perception so that Gettysburg becomes known internationally as the place of a 'new rebirth of freedom,"' he said, quoting President Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" made on Nov. 19, 1863, five months after the battle. ---------------------------------------------------------------- I realize this is an older article but it will have to do..... U.S. Corrects 'Southern Bias' at Civil War Sites [url=http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=608562]Reuters via Lycos.com ^[/url] | 12/22/2002 | Alan Elsner Posted on Sunday, December 22, 2002 9:56:45 AM by GeneD GETTYSBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - The U.S. National Park Service has embarked on an effort to change its interpretive materials at major Civil War battlefields to get rid of a Southern bias and emphasize the horrors of slavery. Nowhere is the project more striking than at Gettysburg, site of the largest battle ever fought on American soil, where plans are going ahead to build a new visitors center and museum at a cost of $95 million that will completely change the way the conflict is presented to visitors. "For the past 100 years, we've been presenting this battlefield as the high watermark of the Confederacy and focusing on the personal valor of the soldiers who fought here," said Gettysburg Park Superintendent John Latschar. "We want to change the perception so that Gettysburg becomes known internationally as the place of a 'new rebirth of freedom,"' he said, quoting President Abraham Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address" made on Nov. 19, 1863, five months after the battle. "We want to get away from the traditional descriptions of who shot whom, where and into discussions of why they were shooting one another," Latschar said. The project seems particularly relevant following the furor over Republican Sen. Trent Lott's recent remarks seeming to endorse racial segregation, which forced many Americans to revisit one of the uglier chapters of the nation's history. When it opens in 2006, the new museum will offer visitors a narrative of the entire Civil War, putting the battle into its larger historical context. Latschar said he was inspired by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., which sets out to tell a story rather than to display historical artifacts behind glass cases. "Our current museum is absolutely abysmal. It tells no story. It's a curator's museum with no rhyme or reason," Latschar said. It is also failing to preserve the 700,000 items in its collection, including 350,000 maps, documents and photographs, many of which were rotting away or crumbling into dust until they were put into temporary storage. FEW BLACKS VISIT Around 1.8 million people visit Gettysburg every year. Latschar said a disproportionate number were men and the park attracts very few black visitors. In 1998, he invited three prominent historians to examine the site. Their conclusion: that Gettysburg's interpretive programs had a "pervasive southern sympathy." The same was true at most if not all of the 28 Civil War sites operated by the National Parks Service. A report to Congress delivered in March 2000 found that only nine did an adequate job of addressing slavery in their exhibits. Another six, including Gettysburg, gave it a cursory mention. The rest did not mention it at all. Most parks are now trying to correct the situation. Park rangers and licensed guides at Gettysburg and other sites have already changed their presentations in line with the new policy. Now, park authorities are taking a look at brochures, handouts and roadside signs. According to Dwight Pitcaithley, chief historian of the National Park Service, the South had tremendous success in promoting its "lost cause" theory. The theory rested on three propositions: that the war was fought over "states' rights" and not over slavery; that there was no dishonor in defeat since the Confederacy lost only because it was overwhelmed by the richer north; and that slavery was a benign institution and most slaves were content with their lot and faithful to their masters. "Much of the public conversation today about the Civil War and its meaning for contemporary society is shaped by structured forgetting and wishful thinking" he said.
____________________ "Where this division defended, no odds broke its line; where it attacked, no numbers resisted its onslaught, save only once; and there is the grave of Cleburne." ~ Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee |
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| Posted: Tue Sep 29th, 2009 08:35 pm |
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35th Post |
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GeorgeM GeorgeM
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I went to Gettysburg last weekend and visited the new visitor center . Significantly, it has a nice architectural design and is very compatible with its historical setting. Also, the building is spacious, can handle large crowds, has a good book store (I would like to see more scholarly works), the Gettysburg film is balanced and provides a good overview of the battle, and the cyclorama painting (with its naration and special effects) is great. On the down side, parking can be a problem and there are few museum exhibits. In the future, I hope new exhibits are added and various artillery pieces (located near the entrance like the NPS does at Chickamauga) would also be nice. Currently, deciding the date, day, and time of a visit are important considerations. I went on a Sunday morning at 8:30 A.M. and there were only a dozen people present. Later in the afternoon the place was packed. All in all I think the NPS has done a good job with the new visitor center and I give them high marks.
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