AMP war museum tests 7-day run

The National Park Service has revived the seven-day operation of the American Memorial Park’s Visitor Center and World War II Exhibit Hall in Garapan for a two-month trial period to see whether the facility will be able to keep its power costs down.

Park ranger Nancy A. Kelchner said yesterday the trial period started on April 27 and will run until June 27.

Under the new schedule, the visitor center/museum and bookstore is open from Sunday to Saturday, from 10am to 5pm.

Due to high utility costs, the museum was earlier forced to close during Mondays and Tuesdays.

The facility also had to remove many pre-war and World War II artifacts from the museum and store them at the NMI Museum of History and Culture in Garapan, and the War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam where the climate controlled environment protects them from damage.

Also gone were the light and sound effects in the museum to reduce costs.

Kelchner said among the cost-saving measures the facility has done are raising the temperature of the air conditioners, replacing the light bulbs with more energy efficient ones, and turning off equipment at night.

“We’re trying to make sure that our [energy] use goes down even if power costs go up,” she said, adding that additional energy saving measures will be done in the summer.

Theo Chargualaf, acting superintendent of the War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam, yesterday said NPS always believes that “it is ideal for the visitor center and museum to open seven days a week for tourists and residents.”

“We have been trying to do our best to keep the utility costs down…It’s a slow process,” he told Saipan Tribune in a phone interview.

He said at one point, utility costs at the American Memorial Park’s Visitor Center and World War II Exhibit Hall reached around $200,000 a year, which, he said, “is a lot of money.”

Chargualaf said in 2008, NPS hired a specialist to review the energy efficiency of the visitor center and museum and made some recommendations that included tinting the windows and changing the air conditioning system.

“We will know after the two-month trial period whether to continue the seven-day operation or not,” he added.

Chargualaf said, however, that the precious artifacts will take longer to be brought back.

The artifacts used to be displayed in glass cases at the war museum. They included an aviator helmet and goggles, a U.S. M1 Garand rifle, a Japanese type 94 pistol, watercolor paintings of the war, a dog tag, language books, and standard military gear.

In an earlier notice to the public, NPS said “due to the increased cost of electricity, American Memorial Park has raised the temperature in the Visitor Center, and turns off the air conditioners at night. Our artifacts have to be kept at a certain temperature and relative humidity range that, with these saving cuts, we cannot maintain.”

The Northern Marianas was a key battleground between American and Japanese forces during World War II.