Nuclear Museum Hosts Fundraising Campaign to Construct Facility to House World's Largest Collection of Nuclear Defense Artifacts

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is launching an ambitious, one-month campaign starting May 14 to raise funds to construct a specialized storage building to house the nation's largest collection of unclassified nuclear defense artifacts. This 5,000 square foot Museum Artifact Center (MAC) will help the Smithsonian Affiliated museum properly preserve and store more than 120 large pieces of Cold War history.

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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

May 14, 2021, 11:00 ET

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., May 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, a Smithsonian Affiliated and congressionally chartered museum, has launched an ambitious fundraising campaign through Indiegogo - a funding platform for creative projects directly supported by individuals who pledge money - May 14 through June 11, 2021 - to fund the construction of an artifacts care facility to house the nation's largest collection of unclassified American nuclear defense heritage materials in existence. This Museum Artifact Center (MAC) will also include a memorial area to commemorate the service provided by the American men and women who worked toward the nation's defense during the Cold War.

The museum's collection includes the world's largest and most complete group of historic nuclear weapons casings and displays, mostly from the Cold War era, that are unclassified and able to be viewed by the general public. This collection of more than 120 individual items, systems and deployment technologies is too large for complete concurrent in-museum display, thus the need for the new facility.

The MAC facility will be 5,000 square feet, offering space for museum-quality storage for the nuclear defense artifacts, plus an exhibitions preparation space. The MAC will also be a site for scheduled behind-the-scenes tours to invite the community to experience this part of history firsthand. It will be constructed in the museum's nine-acre outdoor exhibit area, Heritage Park.

This will be the museum's fifth crowdfunding campaign, as the museum has successfully raised almost $100,000 online toward the restorations of artifacts including the museum's B-29 Superfortress, B-52B Stratofortress, B-47E Stratojet, F-105D Thunderchief and A-7 Corsair II.

The museum's staff and Board of Trustees are working to raise more than $800,000 for this MAC capital project, having already successfully raised $352,000, with hopes to begin construction in 2022. Though the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign is only aiming to raise $25,000 in a one-month time frame, it will greatly assist in reaching the museum's goal of construction.

"Filled with incredibly unique artifacts, the MAC will enhance the museum's mission to present and preserve nuclear history, and it will increase the museum's capability to safely, securely, and cleanly store these important artifacts," said Jim Walther, Museum Executive Director.

Construction of the MAC will take place once fundraising is completed. Contributions to the construction of the MAC or opportunities to memorialize a loved one in the Peacekeeper Memorial are tax-deductible. More information can be found at nuclearmuseum.org. For more information about the MAC project, please contact [email protected].

Related Files

MAC flyer (3).pdf

PeacekeeperMemorial_FNL (1).pdf

Related Images

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Nuclear Museum MAC
Renderings of Museum Artifact Center

SOURCE National Museum of Nuclear Science & History