According to a recent story in The Evening Sun newspaper (Hanover, PA), the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation just held a cultivation event for 60 big donors who walked the grounds, toured historic homes, and heard the Gettysburg Address recited by game show host Alex Trebek.

The foundation needs to raise $95 million to restore the famous Cyclorama painting, remove the existing visitors center, and build a new center and museum nearby. The private group will then get to operate the new visitors center and museum until 2025, reaping all of the benefits of selling pewter Lincoln heads and fake Confederate money.

So far, the foundation has raised $44 million, including a $10 million state grant and $7 million from the federal government.

Update - July 2005: The Cyclorama facility may be slated for demolition in a long-term National Park plan to restore historic stretches of the Gettysburg Battlefield to its 1863 state. The Cyclorama painting itself could be salvaged and moved to another facility. Opponents argue that the Cyclorama building has been around long enough that it is as historically valuable as the old battlefield. [06/13/2004]

February 10, 2012