FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Michael Williams at 882-4811

Heritage Center Reopens Saturday March 1, 2004

The Bureau Land Management Anasazi Heritage Center will reopen to the public on Saturday, March 1. Hours will be 9 am to 5 pm seven days a week.

Installation of the new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system, which required the 3-month closure of the Center and dismantlement of all of the exhibit areas, is essentially complete with final testing of the system taking place this week.

The Center’s main exhibit gallery, theater, shop, and the half-mile nature trail to Escalante Pueblo are all open. A special traveling exhibit, Celebration of Basketweaving, on loan from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, is expected to open later in March. Public services, such as visitor orientations and school group activities are again available.

"We are looking forward to again welcoming visitors. We are especially appreciative of our volunteers who stayed in touch with us over the winter and are returning to help provide quality services," says Museum Director and Monument Manager LouAnn Jacobson.

The Anasazi Heritage Center is a BLM museum for interpreting the history and culture of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the Four Corners region. It is located three miles west of Dolores. Admission fee is $3 for adults; children 17 and under as well as Golden Pass holders, are free. For more information, call (970) 882– 4811 or visit the museum’s website at www.co.blm.gov/ahc/hmepge.htm.

-BLM-