A popular Albuquerque-based facility that explores the history of the Cold War is making plans to build additional space.
Located at 601 Eubank Boulevard SE, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History was established in 1969 and is dedicated to storing and exhibiting artifacts of the early atomic and nuclear age, beginning in the mid-1940s.
Comprising nine acres, the museum’s permanent outdoor collection includes missiles, military vehicles, and aircraft, with interior exhibits related to the history of atomic power, nuclear medicine, and the famous Manhattan Project, which led to the development of the world’s first nuclear weapons.
Now plans have been announced to build a 5,000 square-foot storage facility that will go up adjacent to the main museum building.
The new facility, which is expected to cost just over $800,000 to build, will be built as a museum artifact center that will allow for the display of rockets and bombs, among other items, that have not been available for public viewing for years.
A fund-raising campaign is underway for the project, which has so far secured more than $400,000.
In a press release, Jim Walther, executive director of the museum, said the new storage space will “enhance the museum’s mission to present and preserve nuclear history, and will increase the museum’s capability to safely, securely and cleanly store these important artifacts.”
Opened at its current Eubank Boulevard location in the spring of 2009, the museum was originally established at the Kirtland Air Force Base and called the Sandia Atomic Museum.
By Garry Boulard