World War II Museum begins major expansion

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The $300-million expansion of the National World War II Museum is under way.

The project, slated for completion by 2015, “will be a fitting monument to the sacrifices of a generation of Americans,” said Gordon “Nick” Mueller, president and CEO of the museum.

The first two buildings in the expansion are scheduled to be open next year.

Plans call for an advanced format theater and a restaurant and entertainment venue dubbed the “Stage Door Canteen” to be constructed across the street from the popular museum. The expansion will eventually include seven buildings on six acres.

The 250-seat theater will present a signature film being developed in cooperation with Tom Hanks. It will feature what’s called a 4-D theater that will provide a “multi-sensory experience,” Mueller said.

The museum, called the D-Day Museum when it opened June 6, 2000, was designated by Congress as the official World War II Museum for the country in 2004 and subsequently changed its name.

Originally, it had been envisioned by historian Stephen E. Ambrose as a small facility to hold World War II momentos he was collecting from veterans. Ambrose taught at the University of New Orleans. The city’s other connection to D-Day was a local boat designer, Andrew Jackson Higgins, who built the boats that were used to offload soldiers and vehicles from massive ships anchored offshore onto the beaches at Normandy.

When completed, the museum complex will house a variety of exhibits including a U.S. Freedom Pavilion, Great Campaigns of the War, Land, Sea and Air Pavilion to house major artifacts such as ships and planes, and a Liberation Pavilion, which will focus on the Holocaust and the advances in human rights and technology following the Allied victory in 1945.

The museum, at 945 Magazine St., was closed for three months following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It hosted about 300,000 visitors a year before Katrina; it’s now seeing about 60 percent of that number, Mueller said.

Currently, the museum is hosting a special exhibition called “Real to Reel: Hollywood and World War II,” through Aug. 31, with artifacts, images, movie posters and audiovisuals “from a time when Hollywood glamor merged with military grit,” as the museum’s promotional material for the exhibit put it. Details at http://www.nationalww2museum.org or 877-813-3329.

Top 10 city parks to visit in the West this spring

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — It’s the best of both worlds: outdoor green spaces and vibrant big cities. Sunset magazine has recommendations in its April issue for 10 places to enjoy springtime in the West without leaving civilization.

In San Diego, there’s Balboa Park, with its Botanical Building and Lily Pond, plus museums and gardens.

In Sacramento, William Land Park offers green space, big trees, the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town.

In Seattle, Carkeek Park has six miles of walking trails, as well as views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

Golden Gate Park is a must-see in San Francisco, home to a bison herd, the Conservatory of Flowers and a Japanese tea house.

In Phoenix, South Mountain Park/Preserve offers 16,000 desert acres and a program called “Silent Sundays,” where one Sunday a month, the park’s main Central Avenue-access roadways are closed to motorized vehicles.

Denver’s Central Park at Stapleton features 80 acres of woods, flowers, a playground — and a view of the city skyline.

Forest Park is one of Portland’s outdoor gems, with 5,000 acres of woods, trails and scenic views of the mountains.

Albuquerque Biological Park includes an aquarium, the Rio Grande Botanic Garden, a zoo and Tingley Beach, where you can fish or rent pedal boats or bikes. Last fall, the park opened a four-acre Japanese-themed garden.

Sunset magazine says Los Angeles’ “wildest oasis” is Griffith Park. The park’s trails are still recovering from a fire last year, but the park is also home to the Griffith Observatory and Autry National Center. The magazine recommends the park’s Trails Cafe as a “rustic yet four-star concession.”

The jewel of Vancouver is Stanley Park, where you’ll find woods, gardens, waterfront and cricket being played in the park’s Brockton Oval.