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Museum to explore transportation's evolution in Io

Reprinted courtesy of the Des Moines Register, May 2, 2009. By Tom Barton, DesMoinesRegister.com.

The Transportation Heroes Center exhibit is part of the Iowa Transportation Museum , a $3.4 million facility to be built in Grinnell in the restored Spaulding Carriage and Automotive Works Factory, which produced luxury automobiles, buggies, carriages and wagons from 1909 to 1916.

About $2 million has been raised for the project. Construction is expected to begin sometime this year and take 14 to 16 months.
The museum will feature artifacts such as a restored Spaulding automobile.

Gerald Schnepf, president of the Iowa Transportation Museum , said it will strive to explore transportation's evolution in Iowa , making it come alive through interactive elements, individual profiles and a series of traveling, online and permanent exhibits.

The museum "will enhance our understanding of how transportation systems and workers contribute to the culture and quality of life we enjoy," Schnepf said.

Former Gov. Robert Ray, co-chairman of the committee that selected the heroes recognized, said the exhibit and museum are also meant to inspire high school students to consider careers in the transportation industry.

"Transportation convenience and safety enhances the state's ability to compete not only with other states, but globally," Ray said Friday before a crowd of about 100 students, transportation workers and community members. "Agriculture, industry, social services, education, conservation, and the list goes on and on. The vital component to all is transportation. And what really makes it go is people — heroes. Behind every road, bridge, bus, plane and car are transportation heroes."

For more information about the honorees, visit www.iowatransportationmuseum.com.
— Tom Barton

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090502/NEWS/905020325/-1/SPORTS09