GOLDEN, Colo.-
Backers of a proposed museum on the site of the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant have begun collecting artifacts to fill the space, including a “resistance” teepee erected in 1978 over railroad tracks at the site.
Construction could begin in 2008, and the museum could open by 2009.
Museum board members told The Daily Camera that they hope to raise up to $4 million for the interactive archive to document the history of Rocky Flats, which made plutonium cores for hydrogen bombs from 1952 to 1989.
The plant was shut down in 1989, after the FBI raided offices for evidence of alleged environmental crimes. Plant operators eventually reached an $18.5 million plea deal with the government. A $7 billion, decade-long cleanup effort was declared complete a year ago, and much of the site’s 6,200 acres is to become a national wildlife refuge.
Activists who pushed for the plant’s closure and cleanup believe it is important to preserve its history to educate people about its role in the Cold War.
“We have new players in a nuclear age, and it’s important to preserve the message that we have learned,” said Jan Pilcher, who organized an effort to stop incineration of plutonium-laced waste.
Patrick Malone of the Rocky Flats Truth Force, which presented the teepee to the museum board, said displaying the artifacts will show the importance of taking a strong stand for one’s beliefs.
