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| The National Great Rivers Museum
The National Great Rivers Museum, opened in October of 2003, is one of eleven planned regional visitor centers operated by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. Located adjacent to the Melvin Price Locks and Dam, this 12,000-square-foot facility is the result of a collaboration of the Corps and the nonprofit Meeting of the Great Rivers Foundation and tells the story of the Mississippi River. The Museum features state of the art interactive displays and exhibits that help visitors understand the many aspects of the Mississippi River and how it affects our lives.
The construction of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam is explained and working models explain how the system of locks and dams make river traffic possible on the Upper Mississippi. Free tours, accessible by wheelchair, of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam are conducted daily at 10 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. Also explained are what causes floods, with emphasis on the Great Flood of 1993, and how the Corps of Engineers fights these destructive acts of nature, and what future strategies are being developed to limit their impact. The Illinois Esplanade Park is along the entrance road to the Museum and has picnic facilities and bird watching platforms. The area is especially popular in the winter for Bald Eagle watching as the eagles congregate below the locks and dam looking for easy food. The Confluence Bikeway runs by the complex and connects with Lock and Dam #27 in Granite City and the Lewis & Clark State Historic Site in Hartford to the south and Alton to the west. The Riverlands Environmental Demonstration Area is just across the Mississippi via the Clark Bridge. A video presentation of a voyage from the northern reaches of the Mississippi to New Orleans is under development and when completed will be shown in the 105 seat theater that is located in the Museum. The Museum operates a bookstore and gift shop. The Museum also has plans to collaborate with Lewis and Clark Community College and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center on the development of educational programs and establishing a field station along the river not far from the museum. Visiting the National Great Rivers Museum
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The
natural ecosystem of the Mississippi River and how humans interact with it is
one of the major themes of the museum. A large model of the bluffs (photo right)
of the region is in the center of the museum and provides information on the
various wildlife from prairie plants and trees to birds and other animals. An
aquarium displays the various species of fish that inhabit the Mississippi
River. The mechanics of the river and how soil is made, erosion and how working
models of the river help scientists make decisions affecting the river are
explained. At one station visitors can estimate how much fresh water their
household uses a day and at another visitors can send e-mail postcards from
their hometown.
Another
theme is how the Mississippi River has been home to many people throughout the
ages, from the Mississippian culture that called nearby Cahokia Mounds home to
the time when European settlers began arriving. Before the paved highways of
today, rivers were the preferred mean of transportation and one display explains
how the Mississippi has been used as a highway, not only by humans but by
migrating waterfowl, and chronicles the different the types of vessels used from
canoes, through keelboats and steamboats, to modern day barges. The Pilot House
(photo right,) a simulator based on software actually used to train river pilots
at the Center for Maritime Education in Paducah, Kentucky, allows visitors to
see what it's like to guide a 1,000-foot tow of barges under a bridge or through
a lock.
Learn more about the and 
