Center president Andi Holland said the project, which broke ground in September 2007, is “going very well.”
“Construction in the building itself is winding down,” she said. “They’re doing finish work, pouring sidewalks and are getting ready to do landscaping as soon as it warms up a bit.”
She said work inside the center also is finishing up, with finshing details, doors and touch-up painting being completed inside.
“The next big phase is to facilitate the construction of the exhibits,” Holland said. She said on-site exhibit work will begin in February but off-site work already has begun.
“Once that process is finished, which will take several months, then we will start putting in the artifacts and getting the exhibits open,” Holland said. “We are targeting the middle of Septemeber for our opening.”
The project has involved the remodeling the 12,000-square-foot Museum of the Cherokee Strip and adding a 6,000-square-foot history center. The estimated cost is $5 million plus a $1 million endowment.