Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum reveals expansion plans

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — An expansion for the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is in the works after plans were announced on Wednesday at the Memorial Museum.

According to museum officials, the new space will continue the mission of the memorial with education and programming and the impact for future growth.

While commemorating the memorial's 30th anniversary of the attack on Oklahoma City, the expansion plans revealed the proposed operations for future strategies in teaching the brutality of the attack through the tenderness of the response, the senselessness of violence, and how a Day of Darkness turned into Years of Light.

This new space, called "Foreword," will add nearly 13,000 square feet. It will introduce new programs, history, and stories that have never been heard before, hoping to remember and embrace those affected by the tragedy.

"This sacred site continues to be a beacon of light and hope to so many others," Dr. Susan Chambers, Chairman of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum said.

An all-new enhanced experience is aiming to honor, inform, and incorporate the 30 years following the Oklahoma City bombing.

"Men, women, and children from all 50 states and hundreds of countries, they've come to learn about the impact of violence," Dr. Chambers said.

The addition to the museum will include art recovered from the Murrah Building.

Also, new technology and a civics lab for students are being built in the education center.

"We'll also have a new film studio as an effort to record oral histories and character stories and personal legacies not known, so that we can continue to teach and to remember," Dr. Chambers said.

Developers and the design team have been working together for over a year and say they are close to breaking ground.

"We are going to start hopefully this fall," said Chris Fleming, project developer.

The original team that designed the museum, Gallagher Associates, will once again do the work.

"Here we are in the next chapter in the story with "Foreword,"" Patrick Gallagher with Gallagher Associates said. "We see a community that is taking the tragic event and transforming the impact and meaning into dynamic educational programming. It has now national and international recognition."

Memorial leadership is excited for this next chapter and educating all who visit.

"You learn about the survivors and how their lives have been changed, and you learn about the heroes who came from near and far," Dr. Chambers said. "They see the hope of a city rebuilt and moving forward, but not without remembering."

If you would like to learn more about everything this expansion is bringing, click this link.