Eureka College to reopen Ronald Reagan Museum

CBS 2 Chicago ^ | January 31, 2004 | AP

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

EUREKA, Ill. (AP) The Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College is scheduled to be reopened four months after an arson fire destroyed several historic documents and forced the facility to close for repairs.

The Feb. 6 reopening will coincide with President Reagan's 93rd birthday and the college's annual Founders Day events, museum curator Brian Sajko said.

Sajko said the museum has a new layout that features many documents and artifacts donated by Reagan. The museum houses more than 3,000 items from Reagan's college days, movie and television career, governorship of California and presidency. About 1,000 of the items are on display.

``I really tried to start over,'' said Sajko. ``So now, Eureka is sprinkled all the way through as opposed to (assigned to) a section.''

Investigators have made no arrests in the Sept. 29, 2003 arson and are still seeking clues.

The fire was set in a storage room when both the room and the museum were locked. Several items within the storage area were destroyed, while others sustained smoke damage from the fire or water damage from the sprinkler system.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Illinois (born in Tampico, boyhood home Dixon, college Eureka) is the Land of Reagan too.

[The Great RJ]

Were this arson perpetrated on a MLK museum it would likely be considered a hate crime.

[BillyBoy]

Illinois, though currently overrun with DemocRATs, has better claims on Reagan than the Land of Riordan. I doubt the Gipper could get nominated for any statewide office in today's California. "Too extreme" and "Unelectable", of course. ;-)

[BillyBoy]

Illinois, though currently overrun with DemocRATs, has better claims on Reagan than the Land of Riordan. I doubt the Gipper could get nominated for any statewide office in today's California. "Too extreme" and "Unelectable", of course. ;-)