Renovations, fresh exhibits attracting visitors old and new

It was a year of grand openings along with some difficult times in D.C.’s arts and culture arena, and even in the face of a tanking economy, the District’s museums remain the town’s biggest draw — at the best price.

“Right now our museums are about even with the year before,” said Linda St. Thomas, Smithsonian Institution spokeswoman. “And that’s pretty good, I think, probably because we’re free.”

The reopening of the National Museum of American History in November and the opening of the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History in September have both been big draws, keeping overall attendance for the Smithsonian at 2007 levels.
The gift shops? Not doing so well.

“The stores are down somewhat, which I don’t think is surprising,” St. Thomas said.

The local cultural scene suffered some subtractions in the past year.

The District in 2008 lost “The Awakening,” a 100-foot statue of a struggling giant embedded in the ground, to the National Harbor in Prince George’s County — it was lifted from Hains Point on Feb. 20, and replanted in Maryland soon after. The Bead Museum at 400 7th St. NW in Penn Quarter will shut down Dec. 31, a consequence of the failing economy.

“It’s the economics of the time, really having a downturn,” Victor Steele, the museum’s operations manager, said on Christmas Eve. “We’re not supported by the city or state. And the overhead of even paying for the rental space was just killing us.”

But D.C. regained the American History museum, which reopened in November after a two-year architectural overhaul.

The renovated museum features a central atrium, four new passenger elevators and a grand glass staircase, updated air conditioning and heating systems, and a new display for the Star-Spangled Banner. There’s Julia Child’s Kitchen, the Hall of Power, the Gettysburg Address, and the Lemelson Hall of Invention and the Artifact Walls, among its many exhibitions.

Brian Katz, of Tallahassee, Fla., visiting D.C. with his wife and two sons, moved quickly through the American History museum on Christmas Eve. They rushed through the Star-Spangled Banner exhibit “because it was so crowded” — good news for the institution as it closes out the year. The Katz family visits Washington about once a year, he said, often at Christmastime.

“It’s incredible,” Bill Hume, visiting from Kansas City, Mo., said as he waited for his family to emerge from the Natural History museum. “I love museums. This is my fourth or fifth trip to Washington, and it’s one of the biggest things I like to do here.”

The Smithsonian, of course, is much more than just museums on the National Mall.

Coming soon: a much-needed major upgrade for The National Zoo. The park won final approval this year of its 20-year strategy to boost exhibit space, increase parking and generally improve the experience for more than 3 million annual visitors. The revised master plan, estimated to cost upward of $1 billion, calls for a 1,128-space parking garage, seven new animal exhibits, new visitor amenities and an aerial tram.

The Smithsonian museums remain free of charge, despite some failed attempts over the years to implement meager entrance fees. There is, however, a growing cadre of pay-to-play museums in Washington.

The Newseum, once a staple of Rosslyn, reopened April 11 at its new location on Pennsylvania Avenue. The 250,000-square-foot exhibition space features 14 galleries, more than 6,000 artifacts, 35,000 newspaper front pages dating back nearly 500 years, a 7,000-square-foot NBC News Interactive Newsroom, and 3,800 images on display.

The National Museum of Crime & Punishment opened May 23 at 575 7th St. NW. For $17.95, visitors get five galleries focused on criminal intent, criminal profiles, serial killers, the prison system, law enforcement, victims and crime prevention. The museum is also the new headquarters for FOX television’s “America’s Most Wanted.”

The $20 admission fee for the Newseum has held since the grand opening. The International Spy Museum on F Street still runs $18 for adults. The same stubborn pricing can’t be said for another museum nearby.

The fledgling Madame Tussauds wax museum slashed prices to $10 for adults and $8 for children from Nov. 4 through Dec. 31. The museum calls it an “Election Day Promotion.” But even before November, the wax figure specialist, with its 27,000-square-foot space in Penn Quarter, was cutting its rates.

“Still wouldn’t pay that much to go in there,” said Katz, of Tallahassee.

His son Lowell jumped in: “I would.”

And off they went.