St. Louis County mulls Grant museum in Jefferson Barracks
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
by Matthew Hathaway
January 17, 2010
A Ulysses S. Grant presidential museum and library would be the centerpiece of
a complex of new historical attractions at a revamped Jefferson Barracks,
officials say.
A master plan disclosed this week calls for $68 million in improvements to the
1,000-acre complex that includes a St. Louis County park, national cemetery,
veterans hospital and active military post.
The $300,000 plan, which was commissioned by the St. Louis County Economic
Council and funded primarily by a federal grant, envisions the 184-year-old
military complex as a national attraction for history-minded tourists and,
locally, as an economic engine for South County.
Funding for the project would likely come from a variety of public and private
sources, said Jackie Wellington, executive vice president of the Economic
Council. The plan calls for completion in 2026, the 200th anniversary of the
barracks' opening.
The cemetery, hospital and military reserve posts on the site would continue to
operate. And efforts to open a Missouri Civil War Museum and another museum
dedicated to the role of American "citizen soldier" would proceed.
Those facilities, along with existing military museums in St. Louis County's
Jefferson Barracks Park, would complement a $6.8 million interpretive center
and the Grant compound that would be built along the old military parade
grounds.
At present, 19 presidents have libraries bearing their names,
The Grant library and museum would be dedicated to the Civil War hero whose
scandal-plagued presidency would be remembered by many historians as one of the
worst in American history. Construction costs would be about $13 million for
the 15,000-square-foot facility.
"It wouldn't be a huge facility, but it would be an anchor," said project
manager Scott Emmelkamp, of the Dayton, Ohio-based design firm Woolpert, which
St. Louis County hired to write the plan.
Although Grant was born in Ohio, south St. Louis County seems a fitting place
for his museum and library.
In 1843, shortly after he graduated from West Point, 2nd Lt. Grant began his
military career at Jefferson Barracks. The following year, he met his future
wife, Julia Dent, whose family lived about five miles from the post.
After their marriage in 1848, the couple lived at the Dent family home, White
Haven, and briefly in a log cabin that Grant built and -- unhappy with its
construction -- dubbed Hardscrabble. That building is now on the grounds of
Grant's Farm, the Busch family estate. The Grants later moved back to White
Haven, which is now operated by the National Park Service as the Ulysses S.
Grant National Historic Site, 7400 Grant Road.
In the near term, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said the county
plans to boost Jefferson Barracks' profile by installing new signs. "This is
one of the first things we've got to do -- to let people know what a great
destination Jefferson Barracks is," he said.
Paul Hampel of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
