ANA MONEY MUSEUM TEMPORARILY CLOSED AS $3 MILLION RENOVATION CONTINUES

The American Numismatic Association (ANA) Money Museum galleries at 818 North Cascade Avenue in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are temporarily closed during a $3 million renovation project that will be completed this summer.

"The ANA is remodeling and technologically enhancing its museum and library areas to better serve the growing and changing needs of our members and the public," says ANA Executive Director Edward C Rochette. "The original building is more than three decades old, and some of our facilities literally are bursting at the seams. We have seen a hundred-fold increase in the number of visitors here and we need to make improvements to better serve them and our 31,000 members."

The ANA's library will remain open by appointment, except Saturdays, until later this spring, when remodeling will force its temporary closure. When completed in June, both facilities will re-open to the public with no admission fee. The ANA's administrative offices will remain open throughout the remodeling project.

General contractor Fred Fletemeyer Company of Colorado Springs is working on the remodeling project with plans prepared by the architectural firm of RTA Inc., also of Colorado Springs.

The ANA Money Museum, which up until last week was open six days a week, will be expanded in area by 50 percent and remodeled to provide more exhibit space and easier access to its lower level via a new stairway and elevator.

The ANA's world-class library, which circulates numismatic books, catalogs, periodicals and educational programs to all its members, also will grow by 70 percent, primarily by better utilizing space on the building lower level that once housed photographic dark rooms used by the ANA's coin grading service, which was sold in 1990.

A redesigned main entrance, with skylights over the foyer, will help invite visitors into the building. The entrance also will display minting technology through the ages.

A portion of the remodeled Money Museum will showcase the finest specimens from the most comprehensive collection of America's gold coins, patterns and paper money, assembled by the late Harry W. Bass Jr. of Dallas, Texas. Visitors to the new gallery, will pass through metal-grille doors to experience the audio- and computer-assisted displays that will tell the story of the coins and draw attention to some of the most interesting pieces in the collection. Fiber-optic lighting will illuminate the material, while a touch of a button will cue audio descriptions. An overhead panorama will wrap the room with references to numismatic history, views of mints, the story of gold, the minting process, the work of engravers, and much, much more.

In addition, audio tours will be available to provide both an overview that facilitates a general understanding of the collection and an in-depth study that delves into the details of Bass' analysis of the coins he collected. All the Bass artifacts have been digitally photographed so they can be viewed in the remodeled ANA Library, giving researchers the opportunity to study the high resolution images in even greater detail.

The ANA was founded in 1891 and is chartered by Congress as a nonprofit, educational organization. In the late 1960s, the Association consolidated its library, museum, authentication services, and editorial and administrative offices on the Colorado College campus in a building erected with donations from ANA members. In the early 1980s, member donations and proceeds from the ANA's coin certification service paid for an addition to the original structure.

For more information or to make a donation, contact the American Numismatic Association,818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279; telephone 719/632-2646; fax 719/6344085; E-mail ana@money.org; or see the remodeling project online at www.money.org.