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Saint Francis University has relocated its Keirn Family World War II Museum to the campus library.
The university will rededicate the collection on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, after an 11 a.m. ceremony on the mall on campus.
"They took over and put it all together and did a beautiful job," said Joe Keirn, a retired Army command sergeant major who amassed the materials that form the core of the exhibits and donated the materials several years ago to the university. "Everything is laid out in exactly the kind of precedence it should be."
The new space comprises a large room and four small ones, which collectively occupy twice the square footage available at the previous location, a rented, off-campus house.
It took about four weeks for university staffers to accomplish the move.
The move fulfills a promise that university President Malachi Van Tassell made to Keirn in 2016, the year the university dedicated the original museum site, according to Keirn.
At the time, there wasn't room on campus for the museum, Keirn said.
The new venue will make it more convenient for students to view the exhibits, so visitation numbers should be higher than they were for the house location, said Keirn and Sandra Balough, dean of library services.
The exhibits will also be more readily available for study by students of history and other subjects, Balough said.
The new location has a more "open" feel than did the house, Balough said.
It's actually meant to feel like a museum, whereas the original location was meant to represent a 1940s house, she said.
There's plenty of parking, she added.
The move followed a reevaluation and redesign of the exhibit arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Balough.
That resulted in a shift from an emphasis on the local homeland during the war to the military effort, she said.
Exhibits include uniforms on mannequins representing the different branches of the military, guns and hats, all of which help tell the local World War II story, according to Balough.
The university expects to bring in guest lecturers to speak at the museum.
Starting in January, the museum will be open 10 a.m to 6 p.m Mondays through Fridays.
It's "a great fit" for the university, Balough said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.