Contact: Aaron White
Phone: 202-225-5506
Aaron.White@mail.house.gov
Genoa, Wisc. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind attended the opening of the Great River Road Interpretive Center in Genoa, and presented the museum with a framed statement for the Congressional Record honoring the museum’s opening and contribution to the culture of cities and towns surrounding Wisconsin’s Great River Road.
Rep. Kind has supported the museum since its early stages of development. He attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Great River Road Interpretive Center in August of 2013, and worked to secure a Scenic Byways Program Grant that partially funded the $3.8 million project.
“I am honored to be here in Genoa celebrating the opening of the Great River Road Interpretive Center, which honors a precious natural resource and economic engine in western Wisconsin – the Mississippi River,” said Rep. Ron Kind. “As the Center shows, our region’s culture, history and ecosystem runs deep. I look forward to hearing from Wisconsinites and visitors alike about their experience here at the museum, and congratulate the museum planners, curators and staff on this impressive accomplishment.”
The new Interpretive Center, located within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Genoa fish hatchery, provides a panoramic view of the majesty and magnitude of the Mississippi River. The Great River Road Interpretive Center is dedicated to protecting and honoring the Mississippi River as both a precious natural resource and an economic engine of river communities. Residents and visitors can explore the 6,000-square-foot museum, and learn about the economic, cultural and environmental importance of the Upper Mississippi River Region. The museum will also feature an exhibit on one of the last battles of the Black Hawk War and a history of the Sauk people, many of whom were massacred near the site of the new museum in 1832.
The Great River Road is nearly 3,000 miles long and runs through 10 states and the Mississippi River. A current network of 70 museums and historic sites in all 10 river states showcase and connect the historic sites of the Mississippi River, including six in Wisconsin.
