When the Center for Missouri Studies opens on Elm Street this summer, anyone searching for a piece of history will have more access to more materials in much more space.
Here's a sampling of what's in store for visitors:
• The research center alone is twice as big as it was in the old Ellis Library facility.
• Right now, the art gallery can hold only a quarter of 1 percent of the collection right now. The new space more than doubles that.
• The new building will also be able to store twice as many personal papers, photographs, oral histories, letters, diaries and journals.
• With 76,000 feet of space, it can also stage multiple public events, including films, workshops, lectures and receptions.
Close to completion now, the three-story limestone center has a soft opening planned for mid-July and an official ribbon-cutting Aug. 10 to coincide with the 198th anniversary of Missouri statehood.
To read more, visit our partners at the Columbia Missourian.