GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum is reopening to the public after months of renovations.

A rededication ceremony was held Tuesday following a pre-opening gala that took place Monday at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Grand Rapids. Ford died in 2006.

The $13 million, eight-month project included construction of the 8,000-square-foot DeVos Learning Center, which is designed to foster civic engagement among students.

Gerald Ford was a congressman from Grand Rapids before becoming vice president and then president following Richard Nixon’s 1974 resignation.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as Ford’s chief of staff, said the former president “never put his own interests ahead of those of the American people.”

Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld joined Ford’s family at the museum’s rededication.

“We had a great leader in Jerry Ford who was willing to make the tough decisions, some of which cost him dearly politically, but he did it because it was the right thing to do and what was best for America,” Cheney said.

Steven Ford, son of the late president, told The Grand Rapids Press that the museum wasn’t meant as a monument to his father.

“It was supposed to be an educational experience for all ages, young and old,” Steven Ford said.
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Online:
https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov

https://www.geraldrfordfoundation.org

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AP-WF-06-08-16 0049GMT