STEM Innovation Gallery

John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion

At The National WWII Museum

Currently Closed for Renovations

Set to reopen in 2024, the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion will offer up-close looks at WWII macro-artifacts, including the Museum’s patrol torpedo boat, PT-305, which returned to campus in 2022. Museum visitors will be able to observe the fully restored vessel and learn of her wartime crew and tours of duty. Plan are also underway to allow a behind-the-scenes view of the restoration and preservation of other macro-artifacts.

The Pavilion also houses the STEM Innovation Gallery, a vibrant educational space for students and teachers alike. The gallery will use hands-on experiments and authentic WWII-era macro-artifacts to show how science, technology, engineering, and math contributed—and advanced—in World War II.

About John E. Kushner
A native New Orleanian, John E. Kushner was an ardent enthusiast of WWII history, and donated several valuable items to the Museum’s collection of wartime artifacts—including a WWII jeep similar to the one his father, Jack Kushner, had driven during his service. John believed in the importance of educating future generations about the values and lessons of World War II, and was instrumental in securing the original Museum site. He was one of the initial Trustees of the Museum—serving in that capacity from 1997 until his untimely passing in 2005. Kushner had a particular affinity for collecting and restoring artifacts. The Museum’s John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion provides an exceptional space for Museum staff and volunteers to carry on this important activity.

A very special thanks to our Kushner Restoration Pavilion Donors
The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion was funded in part by the Office of the Secretary of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. 

The National WWII Museum would like to acknowledge the generosity of John Kushner’s family and friends who have contributed to the completion of the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion in his honor:


Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Canizaro
Coya and Frank Levy
H. Britton Sanderford
Mr. and Mrs. Judah Hertz
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Smith Lupo
Richard and Toni Bachmann
Terri and John Havens
Scott and Leslie Jacobs
Robert Newman Family
Mr. and Mrs. Rick S. Rees
Andrew and Barbara Rosenberg
Merritt and Elly Lane
In Honor of Calvin C. Fayard Sr.
Tripp and Heidi Friedler
Valentino Family
Barbara Kushner and Family
Laitram LLC
Mr. and Mrs. James M. Lapeyre Jr.
Russell Palmer
David R. Sherman
Michael J. Siegel Steve and Donna Stumpf
Robert E. Talbot
Transoceanic Development
Jimmy & Lillian Maurin 

 

The National WWII Museum

Museum Campus

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John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion

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