Three presidents won't dedicate Czech museum this year in Cedar Rapids

A repeat of the three presidents' 1995 dedication of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library won't be happening, at least not this year.

Museum officials had hoped to have the sitting presidents from the Czech and Slovak republics and the United States attend the museum's reopening this summer.

The schedules of the two European presidents, however, combined with the election year here made that impossible, museum spokeswoman Diana Baculis said.

“To get them here between July 14 and Nov. 2 – it's just too complex,” Baculis said, referring to the museum's opening date and the weekend before the general election.

Once it gets into November, cold weather is more likely, which museum officials want to avoid.

Unusually frigid temperatures greeted then-presidents Bill Clinton, Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic and Michal Kovac of Slovakia in October 1995 when the museum was first dedicated at 30 16

^th

Ave. SW.

The event drew a crowd of 7,000 people and attracted international attention.

Baculis said the goal is to officially dedicate the museum in warmer weather in 2013, hopefully with three sitting presidents.

The Czech and Slovak presidents travel to the United States just a couple of times each year, so museum staff will start with those scheduled dates, she said.

In the meantime, plans for July 14 include a pageant parade with representatives invited from all 50 states. Ambassadors from the Czech and Slovak republics and state and local dignitaries have been invited.

The museum was flooded in June 2008 and has since been moved nearby to a higher elevation than the previous site along the banks of the Cedar River.

An addition is nearing completion, which will enlarge the museum and add room for more events and displays.