The Tampa Bay History Center is a proud participant in the Blue Star Museums program. As a part of this program, the Tampa Bay History Center is offering free admission to the nation’s active duty military personnel, including National Guard, Reserve and their families, now through Labor Day on Monday, September 6.
Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense and thousands of museums across the U.S.
Families are asked to register in advance by calling the Tampa Bay History Center at 228-0097 and speaking with a visitor service associate to reserve tickets. Identification is required upon entry. Free admission is available to military ID holders and up to five family members.
The military ID holder can be either an active duty service member or other dependent family member with the appropriate ID card. The active duty member does not have to be present for family members to use the program; just bring your DD Form 1173 ID Card or DD Form 1173-1 ID Card for active duty military family members.
Manny Leto, director of marketing and communications for the Tampa Bay History Center, said, “The Bay area’s military history is a big part of the story we tell in the History Center’s galleries, from MacDill Air Force Base to Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders in the 1890s, or the Women’s Air Corps during WWII. We always want to support our military families, to provide an opportunity to spend a day at the museum, and we hope they’ll see some of their own stories reflected in our exhibits.”
The Tampa Bay History Center is located along Tampa’s beautiful Riverwalk at 801 Water St. The museum includes three floors of permanent and temporary exhibition space focusing on 12,000 years of Florida’s history and culture.
The Tampa Bay History Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate museum and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The History Center includes the Touchton Map Library and Florida Center for Cartographic Education and the Witt Research Center. It is also home to the Columbia Cafe. As one of Tampa’s premier cultural venues, the Tampa Bay History Center’s hands-on, interactive exhibits and theaters provide an entertaining and educational experience for visitors of all ages.
Admission to the Tampa Bay History Center also includes the exhibit Tusks to Tails: A Fossil History of Florida, which is on view now through January 11, 2022.
For more information, visit www.tampabayhistorycenter.org. For more information on Blue Star Families, visit www.bluestarfam.org.
