The latest addition to a local museum’s campus highlights the legacy of innovation along the Mississippi River.
The National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium’s John and Alice Butler River of Innovation Gallery will open the weekend of June 11-13.
“I never realized the type of innovation that happens in river towns, and especially Dubuque,” said Kurt Strand, the river museum’s president and CEO.
The $3.5 million, 9,000- square-foot gallery features a variety of hands-on exhibits and a makerspace area.
Strand said the gallery tells a tale of past, present and future innovation.
“You can look at the innovation that occurred with boat builders, and the innovation that is continuing today,” he said. “The barge industry is innovating in different…