DAHLGREN, Va. – State and local officials and supporters gathered at the Dahlgren Heritage Museum on April 13 to celebrate the full-time opening of the museum.
The event marked the start of an expanded operating schedule for the museum, which is now open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. beginning April 13. The event also celebrated the museum’s restoration of the former Virginia Gateway Tourism Center, which closed more 10 years ago due to budgetary restraints.
The museum’s exhibits and displays focus on the history of the Naval Support Facility Dahlgren, but also offer information on the rich history of Virginia’s Northern Neck peninsula of as well as statewide attractions.
As part of the grand opening ceremonies, Karen Hart, chair of the Northern Neck Tourism Commission, presented a Check for $10,000 to the Dahlgren Heritage Museum. The grant will be used to help staff the museum in the promotion of regional history and tourism.
The grand opening festivities were kicked off by Ed Jones, president of the Dahlgren Heritage Foundation. He was followed by comments from those who helped launch the museum and help advance tourism in Virginia.
Speakers included Virginia Delegate William J. Howell from the 28th District and speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates; Virginia State Senator Richard Stuart, 28th District; U.S. Navy Cmdr. Chris Zayatz, executive officer for Naval Support Activity South Potomac; Valerie Guffy, corporate director for tourism development for the Virginia Tourism Corporation; Ruby Brabo, chair of the King George County Board of Supervisors; and Karen Hart, Lisa Hull and Jerry Davis, representatives from the Northern Neck Tourism Commission, Northern Neck Planning District Commission, and Northern Neck Chesapeake Bay Region Partnership.
The grand opening also served to kick off additional special events at the museum over the coming months to include guest speaker programs and educational activities for students. Currently scheduled programs include:
• “First Thursday” speaker series featuring Dr. James Colvard, former technical director for the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren and deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management. Scheduled for May 5, June 2 and July 7, each session will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will address Dahlgren’s evolution and its expected contributions to the Navy of the future.
• “Life at Dahlgren in the 60s” guest panel, April 28 at 4:30 p.m. Special guests include Elizabeth Lyddane, daughter of Dahlgren technical director Russell Lyddane, and John Morton, commanding officer of the base from that era.
• “Dahlgren Before the Arrival of the Navy” presentation by Elizabeth Lee, president of the King George Historical Society, on Saturday, April 30, at 10 a.m.
All special programs are hosted at the museum and are free and open to the public.
The Dahlgren Museum originally opened its doors in October 2013, but limited staff and resources restricted the hours that the facility could be open to the public, typically just on Saturday afternoons.
Ed Jones, president of the Dahlgren Heritage Foundation, said that an expanded five-day-a-week schedule is the most important development to date in the museum’s five-year existence.
“This major upgrade will produce significant, tangible benefits to the surrounding counties throughout the Northern Neck,” Jones emphasizes. “We will now be in a better position to support tourism in the region in a way that respects our history and fuels local economic development. The mission of our museum is to tell the story, not only of the Naval Support Facility at Dahlgren, but also of the community that surrounds it.”
Jones adds, “We are grateful for the support of all the state and regional officials and our supporters both local and nationwide. Many of our supporters lived and worked at the base developing some of the most significant and critical developments in defense technology, and many more are still working at Dahlgren on cutting edge new projects to defend the nation from ongoing threats to national and global security,” he said.
“We are squarely focused on the year 2018 as the Naval Support Facility at Dahlgren counts down to its centennial that year,” Jones emphasizes. “We want to be a key contributor to that commemoration to continue to tell the story of this critically important military base and the community that surrounds it.”
The Dahlgren Heritage Foundation is chartered to establish and operate the Dahlgren Heritage Museum and to provide the long-term preservation efforts and educational activities associated with sharing the stories and interpreting the U.S. Navy’s physical, technical, intellectual and social contributions to King George County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation.