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thedrifter
04-14-07, 06:20 AM
Marines' museum passes milestone

By AILEEN M. STRENG
astreng@potomacnews.com
Saturday, April 14, 2007

Five months after the November grand opening that drew thousands of former Marines and President Bush, the National Museum of the Marine Corps has exceeded visitor projections for its entire first year.

The 250,000th visitor walked through the doors sometime around 1:15 p.m. Friday.

Museum director Lin Ezell and her staff had planned a 2 p.m. ceremony, the time they estimated the 250,000th visitor would cross the threshold. But because number 250,000 had come and gone by the hour chosen to mark the milestone, museum officials picked another visitor to stand in during the ceremony.

An automated counter tracks visitors as they come through the doors each day, she said, and she was pleased that they were only off by about 45 minutes.

"We were extremely lucky," she said.

Henry Guidoboni of Medford, Mass., said he felt lucky too.

"You have made my day. You've made my year," Guidoboni said when he learned he was chosen as the 250,000th visitor. "God bless the Marine Corps. Semper Fi. This is great."

As part of a trip to visit their friends James and Linda Rhee of Columbia, Md., Guidoboni and his wife, Connie, had planned a visit to the Marine Corps museum just outside the front gate of the Quantico Marine Corps base.

Guidoboni was a Marine for four years in the early 1960s and said he served all over Asia.

Guidoboni is typical of many of the visitors to the museum thus far, Ezell said.

"We suspect that most of our visitors - especially during the first three months - have had some sort of relationship to the Marine Corps," she said. "This summer we expect to draw a broader base."

Since its Nov. 10 grand opening that drew about 12,000 Marine veterans, the museum averaged between 2,294 and 1,810 visitors a day in November and December. This year, the average number of daily visits has been between 1,327 and 1,755.

Ezell said she expects the museum will see an average of about 1,700 or 1,800 daily visits in the summer.

"You need a year's worth of data to really see the trends but we feel confident that we will be a popular museum," Ezell said.

The museum's visible location next to Interstate 95 and its free admission add to the draw, she said.

Prince William Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, R-Dumfries, said she was not surprised that the 250,000th milestone had been reached so soon.

"People are coming more than once. They are coming over and over again," Caddigan said. "You really need more than one visit to see all of it.

"I'm so pleased it's here in Prince William County," Caddigan said. "Now we need to attract more restaurants and hotels for the visitors."

The National Museum of the Marine Corps, which cost about $90 million and took three years to build, is located on a 135-acre site adjacent to Locust Shade Park and across from the Quantico base. The land was donated by Prince William County.

The museum is the centerpiece of a complex of facilities called the Marine Corps Heritage Center that will be built in phases.

Ellie