Museum Development

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The National Vietnam War Museum will be situated on a twelve-acre site in western Parker County, Texas, just east of the city of Mineral Wells, approximately 40 minutes west of Fort Worth. The property is fronted by US Highway 180 and is just east of the entrance to Lake Mineral Wells State Park, the most visited state park in Texas.

Plans for the property include a 50,000 square-foot museum building with a significant portion of the remaining property devoted to six garden areas.

The board of directors has approved a phased-construction approach for the museum that includes:

Phase I - Meditation, Contemplation and Vietnam Memorial Gardens, the Rock Creek Link Trail and the first half of the east parking lot. The Meditation and Contemplation Gardens are complete and open to the public, as well as the 300-ft long Vietnam Memorial Wall replica in the Vietnam Memorial Garden. The approximately one-half scale replica wall will be unique, in that it will be updated annually to maintain an accurate presentation of names.  The Meditation Garden contains a large gazebo and two labyrinth paths, as well as memorial bricks, plaques, and tablets recognizing individuals and organizations. The Contemplation Garden contains the only replica of the Camp Holloway Memorial Wall that was originally built on the post in the city of Pleiku, then a city in South Vietnam. The garden also contains a Vietnam veteran Huey helicopter mounted on a 20 foot pole.  The Vietnam Memorial Garden is now under construction and will be open in the Summer of 2009. It will contain a small forest of Arizona Cypress trees.

Phase II - Museum Service Center, Visitor Center (temporary building), the Reflection Garden and the west half of the east parking lot. The Museum Service Center will be approximately 60 x 80 feet in size and will contain an area for maintenance and restoration of museum artifacts, a storage area for maintenance equipment and supplies, offices and a storeroom for the maintenance department personnel. The Visitor Center will house museum offices, meeting room, artifact displays and a reception area. Phase II also includes the western half of the parking lot and the road network to connect it and the Service Center to the west entrance on Highway 180. The garden will be located on the south side of the parking lot and is now in the initial planning stage. It will contain the flags of the six allied countries that fought in the war, some large picnic tables and memorial bricks, tablets and monuments. It will also contain a special mounted exhibit that is to be announced in the summer of 2009.

Phase III - Memorial Garden and the northern half of the west parking lot. The Memorial Garden will contain walkways paved with memorial bricks honoring individuals. Placed throughout this garden will be larger tablets honoring various military units that served in Vietnam.

Phase IV - Remembrance Garden and southern half of the west parking lot. The Remembrance Garden will contain an oral history trail where visitors may listen to reminiscences from previous visitors.

Phase V - Main Museum Building.

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