Maritime Museum opens expanded shipwreck exhibit

MANITOWOC - An expanded shipwreck exhibit will open at Wisconsin Maritime Museum at 3 p.m., Friday, Aug. 12.

The exhibit, “Wisconsin’s Underwater Treasures: Revealing Our Maritime Connections,” focuses on the historic and cultural significance of many notable shipwrecks and unique personal stories from communities along Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan shoreline.

Admission to the exhibit is free with regular museum admission.

The exhibit expansion includes new technology-based experiences and interactive activities such as visitors exploring touchscreen trade routes, loading cargo, interacting with a shipwreck projection and running a virtual remotely operated underwater vehicle.

Wisconsin’s Underwater Treasures highlights the work underway by the Wisconsin Historical Society’s maritime archaeologists to better document, preserve and understand the shipwrecks that lie beneath the waves of Lake Michigan. The “treasures” are the basis for a regional effort to work with NOAA on the possible establishment of a new National Marine Sanctuary focused on various elements of maritime heritage.

Grants from the Wisconsin Humanities Council and the Ruth St. John and John Dunham West Foundation, along with donations from Peter G. Horton and the Windway Foundation, allowed for the community collaboration and the development of the tech-friendly exhibit area.

Call 866-724-2356 for more details.

Wisconsin Maritime Museum is at 75 Maritime Drive, Manitowoc.