A Remembrance Ceremony takes place Saturday in Oklahoma City at the site of the worst domestic terrorist attack.
It was 30 years ago when a massive bomb in a rental truck exploded and destroyed the Murrah Federal Building.
That April 19, 1995 event changed lives and the city forever.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial was created as a private 501c3 in September 1996. Families of those who were killed in the bombing, survivors, first responders and volunteers were involved in the process that created the Outdoor Symbolic Memorial in 2000 and the Museum in 2001.
Now, nearly 25 years later, the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum is expanding with a new addition.
KGOU's Deborah Shaar talked with Kari Watkins, President and CEO of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum, about this next chapter in the journey to heal and educate:
TRANSCRIPT
Deborah Shaar: This year's 30th Anniversary holds significance for a new reason, the future. Expansion plans for the museum and memorial were recently announced. Can you describe what's coming with this project called "Foreward?"
Kari Watkins: The museum is told in chapters in a book. 'Foreward' is a three-floor expansion that adds about 12,000 square feet. It allows us to have a civics lab, a larger orientation theater, some more space for education, a film studio for oral histories and content development. So it is the ‘foreward’ to the book. It is the foreword to explaining why you're here. And when you walk in, you'll be standing on salvaged granite from the Murrah building and seeing artwork that was salvaged from the Murrah building. All that becomes very important as we then begin to weave the story of the past and we look toward the future.
DS: Did the designers have that in mind when they decided to attach the new building to the historic building that holds the museum now?
KW: We haven't changed our partners. We have our same museum designers, our same museum fabricators, same construction company. We've brought everyone back to the table and they have their heart in it. They know it. There's no reason to fix something that isn't broken. We've been working on this for about a year. And so I think they've done a good job of making sure it doesn't take away from what they designed and what we opened nearly 25 years ago. It complements it and adds it contemporary day of why these two are important together. The outdoor memorial, if that's all you see, it's a very powerful visit but you do not understand the story. And if you go just to the museum but you don't go to the outdoor site, you have the facts but you don't have necessarily all the symbolic elements and the feelings of what this site stands for.
DS: The name ‘Foreward’ has a few meanings when you hear it said. How did that name come about and is there a story behind it?
KW: As I mentioned, the museum is told in chapters of a book. And so it sets you up for what you're about to see. And I think really going to the museum first and then going out to the Memorial grounds makes it a way more powerful visit because you know the story. And if you're just staying out there at night and you don't have a chance to go in the museum, you still get this incredible perspective, but you don't learn the names and see the faces and understand their personal stories. And so the ‘Foreward’ part is blending the past to the present and the future.
DS: And that's always been a goal of yours with the museum is to teach children and visitors not only about the bombing incident, but also the lessons learned from this event.
KW: Right. It's life changing and life giving to so many people to understand that we can all go to the dark side. We could all be negative. We can all think that the federal employees are faceless. What we're trying to do is humanize this event in a way that people understand how senseless it was and how it will forever impact this community and this nation because of what happened and so many lessons that we learned.
DS: What is the timeline for the expansion project?
KW: We'll break ground later this year, late fall this year, and then we hope to have it open by April of 2027.
DS: How much do you think it'll cost and where's the funding coming from?
KW: Well, we are not government funded. We are not funded by the city, state or federal governments annually. And so we raise our money privately. Our goal is $12 million. Because of where we are with construction costs and tariffs being slapped on and things like that, it could be over that, but we're going through all that right now.
DS: What's been the reaction from the families, the survivors, and all of the designers and people who helped create the initial museum?
KW: We lost so much on this site. Those families, those survivors, those first responders deserve the very best. And it's our goal to take care of it and to be the guardian of it at a level that's unseen. I think the 30th anniversary will be a time to come and reflect and to remember, but it also, you know, it's a day of darkness, years of light. We'll take you back to that day of darkness— we’ll read those 168 names, but we also hope that people embrace the days of light. We have far more in common than we have a part.
