Tuesday in Grand Rapids the Gerald R. Ford Museum will be rededicated after months of renovations. Last night, a gala was held. The keynote speaker was former Vice President and Ford cabinet member Dick Cheney. Also on hand the Ford family including son Michael Ford who spoke with WGVU about the rededication.
“I’ve seen it twice now and I want to go back again because there are so many things I haven’t really gotten deeper into but it’s really spectacular.”
Michael Ford, the son of President Gerry Ford and First Lady Betty Ford raves about the Ford Presidential Museum makeover.
“It tells this wonderful story of a young man and woman from Western Michigan who didn’t set out to be in the White House but because of the nurturing and the mentoring of their parents and their friends and people in this community. They moved forward in their lives and took on bigger challenges each step of the way to finally rise to a place of supreme leadership for the entire nation. So that is captured so well in these exhibits, in each element.”
It’s a story serving as the museum’s foundation since its opening in 1982. But over time, as historian reexamine the Ford presidency, the story continues to evolve and a new and innovative museum experience is necessary to tell it.
“It’s very dynamic and interactive. It’s alive. It’s a new way of hearing, seeing and tasting, you know, democracy at work. So, that’s what I love about it.”
On Tuesday, a rededication ceremony is planned and the museum opens along with the new DeVos Learning Center.
Patrick Center, WGVU News.