(Radio Iowa) – After a very long wait, the barricades are finally coming down and the State Historical Building of Iowa, Museum and Research Center in downtown Des Moines will hold its grand reopening in ten days. Spokesman Jeff Morgan says there’s a beautiful, bright new atrium and significant infrastructure improvements that are designed to provide a safer, more secure facility that will preserve and share Iowa’s history for decades to come. “The State Historical Building has undergone a renovation project over the past five years and it’s going to be fully reopening on Saturday, October 14th,” Morgan says. “We’re going to have a day-long schedule of programs and activities. We’re going to be unveiling a brand new museum exhibition, called ‘Civics in Action’ that day, so we’re encouraging people to come down and participate and celebrate us.”

That new exhibit focuses on the significant events, court cases, caucuses and issues that shaped the future of Iowa and the United States. “They’ll be able to see more than 60 artifacts from our permanent collection, everything from a Ding Darling political cartoon to election tickets from the 1800s,” Morgan says. “We’ll have artifacts from caucuses of Iowa’s past, and banners, buttons, ribbons and more.” Another exhibit features Mia Peterson, who grew up in Webster City, and became a prominent national advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.

“She actually carried the Olympic torch, and we’re going to have a number of her items here,” Morgan says. “We’re also going to have information about our Benoist biplane. We’re going to have an object station that will transport artifacts through several different exhibits during the day, and then we’ll have storytellers in the ‘Iowa and the Civil War’ exhibition.”

Built in 1987 as a center for Iowa history, the State Historical Museum of Iowa will have new hours, and will be open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays.