‘This is a game-changer.’ Ex-presidents, celebs visit Missouri for museum’s opening

People at a museum grand opening Wednesday night in Springfield could have been forgiven for thinking they were in Hollywood or Washington, D.C.

A-list celebrities and former presidents joined in celebrating Springfield’s Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium. More than 3,000 attended the grand opening of the 350,000-square-foot facility, including former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, as well as others such as Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Costner, singer Easton Corbin and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

Springfield Mayor Ken McClure told the Springfield News-Leader that the revamped facility is a “game-changer” for the city.

The museum is larger than the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in D.C., and it includes 35,000 live fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds from 800 different species. It also features a 1.5-million-gallon aquarium.

Carter added a rainbow trout to the museum’s stock as well as a hand-tied peanut fly, according to the News-Leader.

“We fish all over,” Carter said of his love for the sport, which he often enjoys with his wife, Rosalyn. “We have five fish ponds ourselves.”

Bush added that his love of the outdoors remained while he was president, even when he was confined to the White House.

Museum admission is cheaper than at similar venues, according to a release from the venue. Children’s tickets are 15 percent lower than the national average for major aquariums and museums, and they are 50 percent lower than other attractions in the region, the release stated. Children under 4 years old can enter for free.

The release called the venue the “largest and most important natural history museum to open in America in more than a century.”

The conservation-focused venue was first envisioned by John Morris, the CEO of Bass Pro Shops. It is a not-for-profit venue.

The $290 million facility was recently advertised in Times Square, the News-Leader reported.

Bruce Nasby of Springfield hopes the museum can serve as a tourist attraction for people around the world.

“I think it’s something Springfield can be very proud of,” Nasby told the News-Leader. “I hope the message gets out around the world that they need to come to Springfield to see this museum and aquarium.”

This story was originally published September 21, 2017 at 1:13 PM with the headline "‘This is a game-changer.’ Ex-presidents, celebs visit Missouri for museum’s opening."