Dec. 18, 2001 – The V.I. National Park is hosting an open house at the Visitor Center in Cruz Bay from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday to celebrate the opening of its new exhibits.
Paul Thomas, who heads the park's Interpretive Division, said that the exhibits provide information about the natural and cultural history of St. John. They include displays about the sea, the land and the people who formerly inhabited St. John — amerindians, early European settlers and Africans brought to the island as slaves. The timeline covered concludes with material on the subsistence economy that existed until the 1950s.
"It tells the whole story," Thomas said of the series of exhibits, which were designed by the National Park Service Design Center in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and built by Color Ad in Manassas, Virginia. Thomas said the project was put out to bid and that he did not know the cost.
After the open house, the exhibits will be open to public viewing during normal Visitor Center hours — 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. A park ranger always is on duty at the center to provide information and answer questions, and there is a small gift shop area with books and other park-related items.
