KU Natural History Museum gallery to be remodeled

Antiquated lighting and exhibit space will go the way of the dinosaurs after fifth-floor renovations are completed at the KU Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center next year.

The fifth floor gallery will be remodeled to provide attractive and functional space for temporary and traveling exhibitions. The renovations will increase the floor space, allow larger, three-dimensional displays, update lighting to modern museum standards and add Internet access and state-of-the-art exhibit furniture. Two current exhibits—the famous horse Comanche and a crouching camarasaur dinosaur—will be moved before the renovation, and a new Comanche exhibit will be installed in a fourth-floor gallery.

Renovations will be completed by August 2005, when the inaugural exhibit, Explore Evolution, arrives at the museum. Funded by the National Science Foundation, Explore Evolution was developed by a consortium of museums—including KU’s—to interpret the mechanisms by which evolution occurs, and engage and inform a wide variety of visitors.

“The structure of the old gallery on the fifth floor has kept us from bringing modern, exciting traveling exhibits to the museum,” said Leonard Krishtalka, director of the museum and center. “Shallow, two-dimensional exhibit cases and ultraviolet light exposure meant we were limited mostly to photographs. We could not exhibit real specimens or provide engaging, interactive experiences. With the planned renovations, we will be able to provide a much larger range of exhibits and hands-on educational activities that use specimens, artifacts, and the latest in digital technology to showcase the life of the planet and the biodiversity research conducted here and around the world.”

To accommodate the move of Comanche, fourth-floor storage and circulation space will be converted to an entirely new gallery. A new case conforming to modern standards will be fabricated to ensure the horse’s continued conservation. A 7th-Cavalry survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the horse will also be interpreted in new ways that reflect not only its importance as a military symbol, but also as a symbol of the U.S. policies that isolated Native Americans on reservations. It also will reflect the conversion of the Great Plains from a mostly natural ecosystem to one mostly managed by humans.

The renovations have been made possible by a gift of $500,000 to KU Endowment from Lawrence resident Hortense Casady Oldfather. The gift will fund the gallery project and other projects designed to improve the experiences of the 50,000 annual visitors to the museum, Krishtalka said. In honor of her support, the fifth floor will be named the Casady Family Gallery.

“We’ve wanted to remodel the fifth floor for many years,” he said. “Now we can, and we are grateful to Tensie for her visionary support of science education in Lawrence and at the University of Kansas.”

A 1941 University of Nebraska graduate, Oldfather moved to Lawrence in 1950 with her husband, the late Charles Oldfather Jr., a KU law professor and University counsel. In addition to rearing seven children, she has been a volunteer for a variety of community organizations, including the Bert Nash Mental Health Clinic, the Red Cross, Lawrence schools and Head Start.

Oldfather’s gift counts toward the goal of KU First: Invest in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise in excess of $600 million for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment serves as the independent, non-profit fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.