Titanic exhibit opens next month to mark voyage’s 110th anniversary

MARION — All aboard to step back in time, stroll the promenade, view exhibit pieces and vintage photos and taste samplings of the dinner that passengers of the ill-fated Titanic experienced as the Marion Heritage Center and Museum celebrates the 110th anniversary of the legendary voyage.

The event will be 1 to 6 p.m. April 10 at the Heritage Center, 590 10th St., in Marion, with a Grand Opening Ceremony, followed by remarks from Robyn Ireland, museum director, and the keynote address “Iowa’s Titanic Legacy” by David V. Wendell, historian and exhibit curator, who will reveal the fate of Iowa’s passengers, being told for the first time, 110 years after the shipwreck.

Visitors will receive a boarding pass with the name of an actual passenger and “ascend the Grand Staircase to meet at the legendary clock made famous in the 1997 ‘Titanic’ movie.” A handcrafted 5-foot long detailed scale model of the luxury ocean liner serves as the centerpiece to the exhibit, along with nearly 100 vintage photographs, and all passengers — first, second and third class — will have a chance to touch artifacts brought up from 12,500 feet beneath the icy surface of the North Atlantic.

Passengers will then stroll the promenade to meet Polar, the iconic Steiff toy bear and learn the encouraging story of survival by its 6-year-old “master.”

Blueprints of the ship allow all travelers to find the state room, cabin, or steerage section of the vessel where they would have spent nights in cozy luxury no matter what class they sailed, and everyone at the end of the display will be summoned to have a seat at the first class dinner table for a “Taste of Titanic” — sampling menu selections from the last dinner on Titanic.

As guests exit the exhibit, they can view maritime citations for bravery and medals awarded to crew members of the rescue ship Carpathia and look up on the Memorial Wall to find if their namesake passenger survived or died in the tragic shipwreck.

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of the release of the 1997 James Cameron movie, a second exhibit reveals the secrets of the making of the movie with behind-the-scenes accounts and intimate photos of the stages, sets, models and actors — including autographs by the stars of the film — which surround Cameron’s original script, soundtrack by Celine Dion, and film cells from the first print of the motion picture.

“A Day on the Titanic” will conclude with a screening of the “Titanic” movie.

Admission is free (donations are accepted). For more information, visit the museum’s website or call (319) 447-6376.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com