Proposed National Hurricane Museum and Science Center Would Be First Of Its Kind

October 29, 2007

By David Wilkening, Disaster News Network

Audrey snuck into Louisiana in the early hours of June 27, 1957. The casualties: more than 500 lives lost, including 200 children. The damage: more than $1 billion.

That was followed in more modern times by such ill-tempered ladies as Camille. And, of course, who can forget Rita and Katrina?

There will be a special place for them if a proposed $100 million National Hurricane Museum and Science Center (NHMSC) becomes a reality in southwest Louisiana.

"These storms are still seared into the collective memory of those who survived. In the case of Katrina and Rita, the entire nation will not soon forget the overwhelming impact of those two storms," says the NHMSC's final master plan.

The museum would be the only one of its size and scope anywhere, its supporters say.

The impetus for the museum started when local officials in Cameron and St. Charles Parish, both of which have been hard-hit in recent years by hurricanes, started looking at a $5 million hurricane museum to commemorate Audrey's 50th anniversary, according to Jill Kidder.

"But that was before Rita and Katrina," says Kidder, project coordinator for the proposed museum. "We had 10 different world-class design teams that said we really should look at this at a larger level."\

The resulting proposal was for a 100,000-square-foot museum that would attract approximately 350,000 visitors a year, which is roughly comparable to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

The hurricane museum was expected to draw most visitors from a 250-mile radius.

"Attracting school groups and tapping the Houston market figure heavily into the center's financial framework," according to news reports.

The setting for the museum was narrowed down to two places: Cameron and St. Charles Parish, with Cameron particularly appropriate because of Rita and Katrina.

"Cameron was literally wiped off the map. There was nothing left at all but the courthouse," Kidder says.

The courthouse was built to withstand hurricanes after Audrey devastated the area.

A $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Transportation Administration's National Scenic Byway Program provided the seed money for a schematic design for the buildings. Those designs were scheduled to be completed by March.

"We hope then to start a serious fund-raising effort," Kidder says. She says she envisioned joint public-private partnerships, some of them from companies in the oil and gas industry in southwest Louisiana. The insurance industry was another possible source of funding, she said. Individual companies might also sponsor exhibits or portions of the museum.

The group's goal is to raise $100 million within two years.

Kidder admits that was a large amount of money, but said that "when you look at other museums and concepts, it's a possibility."

She cites the example of the World War II Museum, which recently announced a $300 million expansion.

Backers of the hurricane museum say it will be an educational experience offering "some of the most compelling stories of survival and recovery found anywhere."

Included will be:

An accounting of hurricanes everywhere with a special emphasis on Atlantic storms. Photos, artifacts and personal histories would focus on the storms.
Interactive exhibits that let visitors test the physics behind wind action, water movement and erosion.
Big-screen theaters showing films about storms.
A possible "Moment Frozen in Time" exhibit where debris would be suspended in the air to give visitors a sense of a hurricane's power.
A "show-stopper" that would feature a sit-down wind tunnel where visitors can experience hurricane-force winds.

The center would also be designed to be home to scientists and meteorologists doing a mix of public education and scientific research, says Anne Klenke, a project manager with the Creole Nature Trail Group.

That organization and the Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau are the most visible backers of the museum. Both the Louisiana Senate and the House of Representatives have acknowledged the importance of the venture through a concurrent resolution. The U.S. House also approved a resolution supporting the creation of the museum.

"The center will not only help us assist our neighbors along the Gulf Coast and throughout the country, it will serve as an integral economic development engine for our coastal communities," says U.S. Rep. Charles W. Boustany, Jr.

Kidder says she was optimistic that the funds could be raised even as the state struggles with more immediate recovery efforts. "In my honest assessment, I think we've got a 75 percent chance of this happening," Kidder said. If not, she said, there was still the possibility of reducing the size of the facility.

— Disaster News Network

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