The National Park Service is repainting the interior of the presidential home at Eisenhower National Historic Site beginning January 6. The project will repaint six rooms and all interior hallways of the 16-room house, including the living room, front hall master bedroom, general's room, sitting room and office.*
The site will remain open for visitation throughout the approximately seven week long project, with reduced fees. Visitors will see some rooms unfurnished or others in the process of being painted or used for storage. To accommodate the disruption, the normal fee to visit the site will be reduced from $7.50 to $5 beginning January 6 and for the estimated 7 week duration of the project. Visitors will continue to have the opportunity to tour the Reception Center exhibits and see the 11-minute video on Eisenhower's life. During the project, park rangers will present tours outside on the grounds and then escort visitors through the home in small groups.
Fifteen years and thousands of visitors touring the home have resulted in worn and missing paint, especially in hallways. Park staff will temporarily remove furnishings from rooms to be painted with the guidance of the site's curator.
The Eisenhower National Historic Site is open daily with tours offered at 10 a.m.and 2 p.m. from January 5- February 13. Beginning Feb. 14, President's Day weekend, tours will be offered at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. daily. Shuttle buses to the site leave from the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center. For the duration of the project, the admission is $5.00 for adults and youth ages 6 -12;children age 5 and under are admitted free. Advance reservations are available and highly recommended for groups. Reservations can be made by calling 877-874-2478.
*THE PAINTING OF THE EISENHOWER HOME IS NOW COMPLETED AND ALL ROOMS ARE NOW OPEN FOR VIEWING. (Feb. 24, 2015)
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
