The Kenai Cultural Center’s Grand Re-Opening and Ribbon Cutting will be held on Jan. 15th at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Kenai Chamber of Commerce will introduce its first rotation of displays, followed by a luncheon that will include information about the 2025 Exhibit Schedule and the new lecture series, The Kenai Chronicles: Beyond the Exhibit, presented by Danielle Lopez-Stamm, the Kenai Cultural Center Coordinator.
The event is open and free to the public.
Samantha Springer, the Executive Director of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center, says they’re excited to finally open back up to the public.
“We just want to get as many people to attend as possible. We want to ensure that people get in here and enjoy it.” Says Springer.
The Cultural Center has been shut down for two months so that all the items could be switched out. This will be the first time artifacts have been rotated out since 1991.
The Center has been showcasing historical items and items donated to the city or on loan. It stores about 4000 artifacts.
Every month, the exhibit will rotate with other artifacts that have never been on display. It will be accompanied by a corresponding lecture series and a guest speaker discussing a topic related to the era in question.
This month, Dr. Adam Dunstan, professor of anthropology, will be giving a lecture on Water & Land Connections in Pre-Colonial Kahtnu on Jan. 29th at 2 pm.
For the grand re-opening and all of January, the theme is Early Kenai from 8,000 BC to 1,700 AD.
Springer mentions that they want to get museum accreditation for the Cultural Center in the future.
