National World War I Disaster Preparedness and Response.

FAIN: PG-50924-10

National World War I Museum and Memorial (Kansas City, MO 64108-4603)
Patrick Raymond (Project Director: May 2009 to October 2011)

Funding supports the development of a disaster and emergency response plan for a museum whose holdings include a wide range of materials dealing with the First World War: more than 6,000 books and periodicals, 600 maps, 1,100 posters, 12,000 photographs, 6,000 feet of film footage, and more than 17,000 historical objects ranging from medals, insignia, and uniforms to a motorcycle and a tank.

The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial is requesting a grant to help develop and implement an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for the site. The plan would recognize the potential for forseeable manmade and natural emergencies, outline ways to avoid or mitigate the impact of a disaster, as well as provide a strategy to deal with the aftermath. The plan will address issues relating to the collections, as well as for visitors and staff. The Museum began collecting artifacts since the early 1920s and has been preserving them ever since. The age of the historic structure, geographical location, national stature and patriotic symbolism of the National World War I Museum make the site vulnerable to many forseeable emergencies, both natural and manmade. The Museum has taken many precautions in the way it has preserved and protected the collections and an approved Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan is recognized as the logical next step.