Ohio Statehouse Museum

The Capitol Square Foundation and the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board have developed a design plan to create updated, high-tech, interactive exhibits and educational programs at the Ohio Statehouse to Enrich the Experience of school children and visitors. The new Ohio Statehouse Museum is scheduled to be completed and open on March 1, 2009, Ohio Statehood Day.

The Ohio Statehouse Museum project will dramatically change the way school children and visitors view and interact with our state capitol. By Enriching the Experience of its visitors, the Statehouse will become a more special place for all Ohioans for generations to come.

The present historical exhibits at the Statehouse consist primarily of static artifacts, graphics and descriptive text. Using contemporary electronic media, including DVD and flat-screen projection, the impact of the current Statehouse's educational program and exhibits will be taken to a new level.

This project will also seek to complete existing projects already under way. These will include the Ladies' Gallery, a room honoring Ohio's first female legislators, and the George Washington Williams Memorial Room, a room to pay tribute to Ohio's first African-American legislator and those that followed.

Hilferty and Associates, an accomplished design firm based in Athens, Ohio, have designed the plans and interactive exhibitions.