The National Museum of the Great Lakes will break ground on a 5,000-square-foot expansion Monday afternoon to provide additional space for temporary and traveling exhibits, new permanent exhibit spaces, and a community education center.
The museum’s capital campaign has already raised $4.5 million toward the Second Wave expansion project’s $6 million price tag, which includes construction and exhibit acquisition costs.
“It will allow us to bring in multiple Smithsonian quality exhibits annually,” said Kate Fineske, executive director of the museum, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on Front Street in Toledo.
She is particularly enthusiastic about the community education center.
“We’ll have space set aside for youth and adults for conversations about the Great Lakes that will happen right here in Toledo,” Ms. Fineske said.
The museum holds a fall and spring lecture series that quickly sells out.
“A big part of this addition is it will also allow us to have space to bring more folks in to listen to the lectures. We do share them virtually as well and have anywhere from 100 to 500 devices logged on with each lecture we give,” she said.
Most who visit the museum are surprised by its size.
“They think it’s going to be a rinky dink museum. But as soon as they step inside, they are impressed by what they see. We’re state of the art,” she said.
The museum is becoming more popular. There has been a 45 percent increase in visitors in 2023 compared to 2022, and admission revenue has increased by 33 percent.
“Our exhibits are made for any age — adults and youth alike — they’re interactive, fun, and exciting, but also knowledgeable, and they produce a lot of information so people can learn more about the Great Lakes,” she said. “We cover all five of the Great Lakes, their history both in the United States and Canada, and we do it top notch.”
Visitors to the museum will learn about the rich history of the Great Lakes, including fur trading, the underground railroad, rum runners, and the many ships and sailors that traveled the lakes to provide goods and services.
Two of the largest and most known exhibits at the museum are the Col. James M. Schoonmaker museum ship and the museum tug Ohio. The Col. James M. Schoonmaker is an iron vessel over 617 feet long and 64 feet wide. It was first launched in 1911 as a coal hauler and sailed the Great Lakes for more than 70 years. The tug Ohio was donated by the Great Lakes Towing Co.
“We’ve only been in Toledo for 10 years, but we’ve been around for 80 years now,” Ms. Fineske said.
The Great Lakes Historical Society, which owns and operates the museum, was formed in Cleveland in 1944 by a group of maritime enthusiasts. The society’s continued mission is to preserve and make known the history of the Great Lakes.
The society first had a small museum in Vermilion, Ohio. In 2014, operations were moved to Toledo and the National Museum of the Great Lakes opened, developed on the banks of the Maumee River.
Toledo City Council issued a proclamation celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo at a meeting earlier this month.
Toledo City Councilman Theresa Gadus, who represents East Toledo, said she was honored to have the museum on the east side.
“It has been celebrated by so many generations of shipyard workers in East Toledo. My dad was one of them. It’s something so many East Toledoans are proud of and to have that on our side of the river is amazing,” she said.
“I hope people continue to see the value that it brings to Toledo,” Councilman Nick Komives said. “It is an important part of our history and all of the Great Lakes.”
First Published April 21, 2024, 3:08 p.m.
