Museum of Rexburg holding open house in conjunction with Teton Dam disaster anniversary
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REXBURG — The Museum of Rexburg — formally the Teton Flood Museum — will be open free to the public this Saturday.
An open house, held in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the Teton Dam disaster, will be from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in the basement of the Rexburg Tabernacle Civic Center. Exhibits of the Teton Dam flood disaster and of historic Rexburg will be on display — some for the first time.
“We are pulling out artifacts from the back that have never been displayed,” Museum Curator Jackie Rawlins said.
Rawlins was instrumental in the city’s decision to change the name of the Teton Flood Museum to the Museum of Rexburg. The changes were finalized in January.
She said management is working on researching stories in connection with current and new artifacts to add to the displays. Workers are going through artifacts and reworking exhibits including the Teton Flood disaster section. Rawlins said they are planning to add names of the victims who were lost during the flood disaster.
“(We want families to) say a little something about the people that lost their lives and their loved ones so that they are remembered through their families eyes,” Rawlins said.
A corner of the Rexburg Museum will be dedicated to traveling exhibits. The current traveling exhibit from Brigham Young University-Idaho is called “Wild Life and Geology Along the Teton Scenic Byway.”
In September, the museum plans to implement an exhibit highlighting Idaho’s refugees in the traveling section.
“(There) will be quotes that represent their country (and) their story,” Rawlins said.
The children’s exhibit that was previously hosted alongside flood displays is closed, but will reopen soon.
The museum’s changes are still underway, but Rawlins encourages people to come out now — either as visitors or volunteers.
“We will need lots of volunteers to help with this process,” Rawlins said. “It’s going to be a year for us to get it to where we want it to be, but we just want the community to see what we’re doing, that’s why we’re opening now.”