Indiana Civil War museum reopens in new, larger location

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A Civil War museum has reopened in the Indiana War Memorial after having to move from its previous site at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in downtown Indianapolis because water leaks endangered the collection.

All the artifacts were moved from Col. Eli Lilly Civil War Museum in 2018 and stored at the Indiana War Memorial a few blocks north of Monument Circle.

Indiana War Memorials Commission director Stewart Goodwin told the Indianapolis Business Journal that work on redesigning the museum took about two years.

“It gave us a lot of opportunities to do some things that we probably should have done a long time ago,” Stewart said. “We are now displaying original artifacts that were never, ever on public display. We’ve gone from displaying one or two original Civil War battle flags to where we now have 15 that are on display.”

Work is continuing on improvements at the 284-foot-tall Soldiers and Sailors Monument, which was built in 1902 but has been closed to the public for about two years. That includes replacement of the elevator to the upper observation deck and gift shop upgrades.

Goodwin said the observation deck and gift shop are expected to reopen to the public in late January.