NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM

NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM. (For the most current information on exhibits and programs, visit the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium at its own website.)

The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, operated by the DUBUQUE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY interprets both the cultural and environmental history of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER with a mission to preserve the history of the river and the river itself. The concept came from William WOODWARD who as president of the society's board of directors worked with community leaders to build an Iowa Welcome Center as an expansion of the Mississippi River Museum which originally included a converted freight warehouse, a former passenger train depot, and the retired dredge, the WILLIAM M. BLACK. It was Woodward's vision that a museum devoted to the river could transition the ICE HARBOR from its post-industrial decay into a tourist destination. Upon his death, Woodward gave the society $2 million. This was used to leverage other funds with a proposed budget of $10 million. The efforts of Jerry ENZLER, Teri Hawks GOODMANN resulted in additional funding, but nothing could prepare them for the action of the Iowa Legislature.

In 2000 the Iowa Legislature using the initiative of Governor Tom Vilsack created the Vision Iowa program which offered $200 million dollars for ajor development initiatives designed to help reinvent the state. Backed by their extensive fund-raising efforts and contacts, the Dubuque organizers requested $58 million from Vision Iowa in December 2000. In April, 2001 the board of directors of Vision Iowa awarded Dubuque $40 million to the city with just over half of the amount going to the river museum and the remainder to the city. The Vision Iowa grant contributed to the largest fundraising campaign in Dubuque history. Ultimately $188 million was raised from federal, state, county, city, business and individual sources.

The America's River campaign led to the construction of the River Discovery Center, the Mississippi Riverwalk, and the city-owned Grand River Center, a convention and event center. (1)

Architects plans for the proposed $25 million Mississippi River Discovery Center were unveiled to the public on January 19, 1998. (2) Visitors could study Mississippi River wildlife using four aquariums up to 35 feet long and nine feet high and ten smaller aquariums. The "America's River Project" was a combined effort of the Dubuque County Historical Society, City of Dubuque, and the DUBUQUE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. (3) It was announced on January 23, 1998 that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service would help create exhibits. (4)

Considered a major project of Dubuque’s $188 million-dollar river renovation effort, the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium and Hall of Fame is home to thousands of fish and other animals including alligators, otters, and several species of birds. State of the art immersion theaters, interactive wet-labs, touch-pools, towboats, a boat and breakfast aboard the WILLIAM M. BLACK, and scores of exhibits have helped the complex achieve the goal of making Dubuque a center of TOURISM. The five-acre campus housing the William Woodward Discovery Center, NATIONAL RIVERS HALL OF FAME, FRED W. WOODWARD RIVERBOAT MUSEUM, Pfohl Boatyard, a wetland, and a refurbished train depot have welcomed over 250,000 visitors annually.

Special exhibits and opportunities have added to the attraction of the Museum & Aquarium. An early theme of the Museum & Aquarium was frogs with dozens of live specimens on display. "Catfish Planet" in 2007 featured the species of catfish found around the world. The program “Venom,” in 2008 displayed all colorful and venomous creatures including spiders, jelly fish, bugs, frogs, snakes, lizards and fish. In 2008 the Museum & Aquarium assisted the Association of Zoos and Aquariums draw attention to the amphibian crisis by offering five new frog displays. Experiencing the life of a blacksmith was possible during Blacksmith Days the same year. This special event highlighted the importance of blacksmithing and metal working along the Mississippi River during pioneer times.

In 2008 visitors could take a 90-minute Eco Cruise. While on the cruise aboard a pontoon-style boat, a Museum & Aquarium guide lead visitors to explore several aspects of the river from the backwaters to Catfish Creek. Visitors also learned about the natural and historic elements that make up the Mississippi River.

The Museum & Aquarium is accredited by the American Association of Museums - a distinction held by only nine percent of American museums. In 2002 the Museum and Aquarium was named the first river museum in the nation to become an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. This designation has given the museum access to the Smithsonian’s vast collection from American cultural artifacts to fine art. Plans were underway for a major expansion that would double the size of the campus in the coming decade.

In 2007 the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium announced a $38 million expansion. The museum planned to renovate the Diamond Jo's Portside Building into the "Great Rivers Center." This would include a "National Rivers Center," a "Rivers Research Center," additional exhibit area, and retail space. The museum also planned to construct a 250-seat IMAX-like "RiverMax Theater." The museum was also positioned to take over the Diamond Jo's existing riverboat. The complex was scheduled to be completed in 2010.

In 2009 and 2017 articles in the TELEGRAPH HERALD focused community attention on the role the Museum & Aquarium was playing in the lives of several endangered species. One of the threatened species mentioned was the Wyoming toad, one of the four most endangered amphibian species in the United States. In 2009 the Museum & Aquarium cared for one-tenth of the Wyoming toads in captivity. (3) Working with the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE, the staff of the Museum & Aquarium helped to identify aquatic species in the Mbaracayu Nature Reserve of Paraquay. The staff was successful in breeding Red Rain Frogs and Laotian newts and was an important contributor in efforts to reintroduce the Higgins' eye pearly mussel to eastern Iowa waters. (5) In 2017 staff at the museum raised logperch, a small fish important to the life cycle of the snuffbox mussel. (6)

When the project was begun, one estimate suggested it could draw an estimated 176,000 additional tourists to the city with an economic impact of $128 million. In 2017 the museum had an average of 200,000 visitors annually and an operating budget of $7.3 million with 2,600 members. (7)

In July, 2022 the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors approved $800,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds for infrastructure upgrades, a traveling exhibit, and expanded marketing at the museum. Officials with the museum also noted that the historical society had raised $7.8 million in a $12.7 million capital campaign without going public. The funding would go toward more infrastructure upgrades. (8)

As the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium reached its twentieth anniversary, it was being credited as "a template for what public and private partnerships can do" with such spin-offs as the redevelopment of Lower Main Street and the repurposing of the city's Historic Millwork District. The museum in twenty years had attracted nearly 4 million visitors including guests from all fifty states and seventy countries. Recent expansions included the $2 million renovation of the Rivers to the Sea exhibit in 2023.

In the summer of 2023 just before its 20th anniversary, the officials of the museum and aquarium unveiled the "Preserve the Wonder" fundraising campaign. On June 28, 2023 the collection made had already totaled just over $9 million toward a goal of $12.75 million. Projects included an expanded otter habitat, a relocation of the paddlefish exhibit, additional terrariums and aquariums, and an upgrade to interpretative signage. (9)

See: Jerry ENZLER

    Robert DAVIS

    Kurt STRAND

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Source:

1. Hogstrom, Erik, "'Fun Story to Tell,'" Telegraph Herald, June 25, 2023, p. 1

2. Krapfl, Mike. "Officials Release Architect's Plans For Proposed River Discovery Center," Telegraph Herald, January 20, 1998, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980120&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

3. Krapfl, Mike. "Discovery Center Effort Gains a Partner," Telegraph Herald, January 23, 1998, p. 3A. Online: https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=aEyKTaVlRPYC&dat=19980123&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

4. "Conservation Programs," Online: http://www.rivermuseum.com/initiatives/conservation-programs/

5. Ibid.

6. Hogstrom, Erik. "A Small Fish, A Huge Conservation Effort," Telegraph Herald, November 3, 2017, p. 3A

7. Hogstrom, Erik. "Strand to Lead Historical Society, River Museum," Telegraph Herald, April 28, 2017, p. 1A

8. Fisher, Benjamin, "ARPA Funds Set to Flow to River Museum for Upgrades," Telegraph Herald, July 7, 2022, p. 1

9. Kelsey, Elizabeth, "Museum Unveils Campaign to 'Preserve the Wonder," Telegraph Herald, June 28, 2023, p. 1

Website of the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium