Celebrate museum’s amazing rebirth

By The Gazette Editorial Board

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You don't have to hail from Eastern Europe to be proud of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, or to marvel at the local treasure's remarkable comeback from the 2008 floods.

Saturday's grand opening of the relocated and expanded facility is a well-deserved celebration of the museum's inspiring recovery and a reminder of its importance to our community.

The museum is not only a repository of local history and culture, it's a learning lab for our children and a shining jewel in Eastern Iowa.

It's too easy to take for granted the vital role well-run museums play in informing, educating and entertaining residents and visitors of all ages.

The new building - with its reception hall, galleries, classroom, 55-seat auditorium, 5,500-square-foot library and expanded store - will make it even easier for the Czech Museum to carry out that mission.

It opens to the public on Saturday, starting a two-day festival of music, dancing, entertainment, food and a special exhibit of the work of artist Alphonse Mucha - the father of Art Nouveau.

A complete list of activities is available online at ncsml.org.

“We are throwing a big party,” Gail Naughton, the museum's president and CEO, told a Gazette reporter. But it took an incredible amount of effort to get here.

When muddy floodwaters engulfed the museum in 2008, it was hard to imagine how it might ever recover.

The flood's sour smell lingered. Slimy mud

coated every surface.

Sodden artifacts were strewn about - treasured objects tossed carelessly aside by a powerful act of nature.

In a recent conversation with members of The Gazette's editorial board, Ford Bell, president of the American Association of Museums, called the Czech Museum's recovery from the flood “an amazing rebirth with an unimaginable amount of hard work.”

Bell reminded us how lucky we are to be home to not one, but two AAM-accredited museums - the Czech Museum and Cedar Rapids Museum of Art.

Only 5 percent of American museums receive accreditation from the AAM. It's a distinction that requires professional dedication and adherence to high standards. It's something of which we should be proud.

Museums serve as extended classrooms, Bell said, as collective memories, as public spaces for reflection. They help us define who we are.

It's no accident that museum attendance actually increases in times of turmoil and economic hardship. They serve as important reminders of what endures.

That may be especially true of the Czech Museum, given its journey of the past four years.

And it's something for all of us to celebrate.

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