Hoover museum renovation plans moving ahead in 2025

With nearly $17 million raised toward the $20.3 million project, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum’s first renovation in nearly 30 years is on track to begin early next year.

Once the doors close this winter, a new window into the public and privates lives of Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover is projected to open in early August 2026, in time for the annual Hoover Hometown Days celebration in West Branch.

“That is very much the hope and the desire that that happens, keeping in mind that 2026 is also the semiquincentennial of the United States — the 250th anniversary — so a big year there, as well. We would love to capture the ability to also focus on the 250th birthday of the United States,” Mundi McCarty, president and chief executive officer of the Hoover Presidential Foundation, said in a recent update.

“We anticipate wrapping (fundraising) up, if not by the end of the calendar year this year, or very shortly thereafter, and will continue, obviously, for those folks interested in the project beyond, and in the years ahead,” she noted.

With that aspect moving right along, BRC Imagination Arts, based in Burbank, Calif., is moving from the concept phase into the schematic phase — translating the ideas into the physical space — said Matthew Solari, vice president of Creative & Story at BRC.

“This is the step before we actually dive into full design detail,” he said. “Now we start thinking about, ‘How does this fit in the building? What are the components? How do we translate this and evolve this into something that's going to be built?’ ”

Everything will be fully accessible for visitors of all abilities, and will feature 21st century technology to engage audiences of all ages, making history come alive.

“However you learn — whether it be through reading, whether it be through a more visual way, through an auditory way, maybe you need to touch things — this will really use essentially all of the senses except taste,” Aaron Scheinblum, the museum’s public affairs specialist, previously told The Gazette.

“So it’s allowing for information to be absorbed in a way that can reach everyone, rather than just one specific audience. It’s important for accessibility. I can’t (emphasize) enough it will be unrecognizable compared to what it looks like right now.”

Those who previously have visited the Hoover museum complex, honoring the 31st president serving from 1929 to 1933, will see a huge change even before they enter the building. About 2,200 square feet is being added on the southeast side, creating a larger interior space to welcome touring groups and school field trips, as well as providing a small gathering space, education space and place for programming, McCarty said during the recent update session.

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A new drop-off point will be created, but parking will remain the same, and a new plaza will feature outdoor seating, landscaping and a gathering space.

As visitors enter the reimagined museum, they’ll step into the hub, instantly recognizable for its floor map inlay. A large photo of the Hoovers will greet visitors, who can then choose which area to explore first: A door on the left leads to the Years of Adventure, and a door to the right leads to the Years of Service.

Years of Adventure

Since the Hoovers each led a life of adventure before they met, the gallery on the left will show their separate, yet parallel paths that eventually crossed, Solari said.

If it were a movie, he said, this is where visitors would meet the cast of characters. After a brief introduction to the “fairly new” community of West Branch, comes an introduction to one of the families living there — the Hoovers.

“We learn about their life and the resilience, the sense of service, the Quaker community and what they do on a daily basis,” Solari said. “Then we meet the Henrys, as well.”

Lou Henry was born in Waterloo in 1874, attended schools in Waterloo and Shell Rock, but was raised primarily in California where her family moved in 1885. Herbert Hoover, also born in 1874, was orphaned at age 9, then in 1885, moved to Oregon to live with his uncle’s family.

After following this parallel timeline, Henry and Hoover met at California’s Stanford University. They married on Feb. 10, 1899, and left for China the next day. Read more about their lives at hoover.archives.gov/hoovers

Their shared love of learning and of books brought them together, Solari said. But books meant something different for each one.

For Hoover, they offered “an escape from a very hard, hard life. He’s young, he’s working, he’s orphaned, somewhat adrift, and books give him this wonderful exposure to what he called a life beyond life,” Solari said. “And for Lou, the idea that books are a source of learning and betterment as a young woman — that she just absolutely craved. …

“Their independent stories converge in an area we call ‘Bert and Lou Together and Apart.’ ”

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It shows the way they corresponded during their long-distance relationship pursuing their separate work paths. After marrying, they launched into what Lou called “their life on the jump,” traveling to various sites around the world during Hoover’s mining career, from China and the Russian Steppes to Australia and Burma (now Myanmar).

The space also gives glimpses of the couple’s growing family as they continued their travels, and includes an “almost Indiana Jones style” of map with lines “that will bring to light these story moments,” Solari said. “You can get a sense of what the world was like back then, and also what the Hoovers were doing in terms of work and exploring different cultures around the world.”

Years of Service

“Then, very dramatically, things start to take a turn,” Solari said, with the couple’s work during World War I, an area deemed “A New Calling.”

“This is a moment that changes the course of history, the lives of millions and millions of people, and Bert and Lou and their family, as well.”

Archival footage will bring visitors to the sights, sounds and headlines of the war — as well as the emotional aspects for the Hoovers and their children, and the plight of people impacted by the global war.

“When Bert understands that the Belgians are on the verge of starvation and that something must be done, this is the turning point in his life where he decides to let the fortune go … and enter his life of service,” Solari said.

It was during this time that Hoover “inspired the American public to do their part through volunteer efforts … and being of service to each other,” Solari added.

Humanitarian work would become the hallmark of Hoover’s adult life before, during and after his presidency. His initiatives fed millions of people during and after both world wars.

Artifacts will accompany the various aspects of the museum’s exhibits, as well as stories of families living as European immigrants to the United States; as farmers; and as people buying their first homes.

“Really getting the snapshot of this really dynamic time in American history, and with Herbert Hoover really being a force of nature in the government for unleashing a lot of prosperity and change,” Solari said.

The video “Looking Ahead: Peek Behind the Curtain of the Museum Renovation,” begins with various voices declaring: “Most people don't know very much about Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover.

“What a life, what a story. Fortitude, enterprise, courage and compassion. All of those values are part of the Herbert Hoover story. …

“It’s the highest ideals of the American character, and it all comes out of Iowa, rising from rags to riches.”

Comments: (319) 368-8508; diana.nollen@thegazette.com