GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Public Museum's Community Archives and Research Center unveiled a new 5,000-square-foot addition Wednesday, designed to give the public greater access to the museum's vast collection of historical artifacts.
WATCH: Grand Rapids museum opens new community archives space
The expansion at the center on Washington Street SE includes classrooms, artifact labs and meeting rooms. It houses more than 250,000 artifacts — 95% of the museum's total collection.
Alex Forist, the museum's chief curator, said the new space creates a more welcoming environment for community members, students and researchers. He said their goal is to get more people exploring Grand Rapids' history.
"For the first time ever, we have classrooms, and artifact labs, and meeting rooms where people can come have a welcoming, accessible way to come in and get access to these public collections," Forist said.
Crews broke ground on the expansion in October 2025. The project was made possible by public, private, and philanthropic partnerships, including a $1 million grant from the State of Michigan.
The celebration also included the dedication of an America 250 plaque commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Grand Rapids Public Museum High School senior Odon Kiara delivered the closing remarks and rang the bell at Wednesday's unveiling. Kiara said hands-on access to artifacts has already shaped how he understands local history.
"I love this new space. I love what they've done with everything. To have a bigger and better space where we're able to interact with more of the artifacts and learn more about our city thoroughly is just awesome to me."
Kiara said the new space will be a lasting resource for students and the broader community.
"Being able to interact with artifacts helped me learn the value of certain history that's been a part of our city," Kiara explained. "I'm just really grateful that we have this space and future generations that will come will be able to utilize this and just better educate themselves on our city's history and just on history as a whole."
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