Loop Road at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site will close for repairs

Date: July 13, 2007
Contact: Adam Prato, [phone]

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site will close the Loop Road on Thursday, July 19 and Friday, July 20 to repair a settling section of roadway west of the picnic parking area. The Loop Road is the scenic drive that approaches the gravesite of former president Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover. A work crew will remove the existing road material, replace and compact new material, and resurface the affected area. Also closed will be the parking spaces near the picnic shelters and the gravesite. During the closure, visitors may continue to park at the Visitor Center, the lot on Parkside Drive across from the Visitor Center, and at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. The picnic shelter and gravesites are within walking distance of those parking lots.

The Loop Road occupies the approximate location of the racetrack of the former West Branch fairgrounds. The elliptical green encircled by the road provides a grand view of the Herbert Hoover Birthplace Cottage from the presidential gravesite. The view of the cottage was incorporated into the landscape of what is now Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

“The area within the Loop Road is a great place to watch the fireworks at Hooverfest, our annual celebration of Herbert Hoover’s birth on August 4th,” said park Superintendent Cheryl A. Schreier. “We’re looking forward to having the Loop Road repaired and reopened for this year’s big event.”

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 of I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Parking is limited so please allow extra time to find a parking space.