New Visitor Orientation Center Opens at Historic Tredegar in Richmond

RICH Superintendent Dave Ruth and American Civil War Center President Christy Coleman announce the opening of the new visitor orientation center at Historic Tredegar. 

(NPS photo)

Date: August 18, 2011

Contact: Elizabeth Paradis Stern, 804-266-5023

On August 18, Richmond National Battlefield Park, the American Civil War Center, and the Richmond Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau cut the ribbon on a revamped visitor orientation facility at Historic Tredegar in downtown Richmond. RICH has had a visitor center and exhibits in the facility since 2000 and the ACWC has operated its Center on the Tredegar campus since 2006.

Recognizing that the two facilities operating adjacent to one another created significant visitor confusion, the two entities decided to partner on a one-stop orientation facility that would enable visitors to learn more about the Civil War story and experience at the Tredegar site itself, at park sites in the Richmond area, and at partner sites throughout the region.

Dubbed the Civil War Gateway, the center will serve as the official launching point for visitors to the Richmond Region in their journey to learn more about the war, its causes, its legacies, and how it still impacts the nation today. The new orientation center also includes the Eastern National gift shop and is staffed jointly by the ACWC and the NPS.