Dennis Peterson, Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center Historic Property manager, said, "The new exhibits cost around $30,000," Peterson said. "The hallmark of the new exhibits are the interpretive paintings by artist Donald Johnson, a native of Poteau and now retired from Emporia State University and living in Norman.
"Along with the incredible art, the centerpiece of the exhibit is the cut away of the Temple that will give visitors a better feel for the leaders at Spiro who controlled the Arkansas River basin around 1,000 years ago.
"At 1 p.m. on Saturday we will cut the ribbon on the new interpretive exhibits," Peterson said. "Due to funding issues, we have been working with the same exhibits, although updated, since the site opened to the public in 1978. With the help of the Oklahoma Historical Society exhibit design staff and funding from visitors donations over the last 20 years, we were able to create a wonderful new exhibit that will help answer visitor questions about the site."
After the ribbon cutting, at 2 p.m. Peterson will lead visitors on a tour of the mounds and be available to answer questions. At 3 p.m. Oklahoma State Archeologist Dr. Robert Brooks will make a presentation entitled: Spiro Mounds and Oklahoma Prehistory.
The Spiro Mounds Development Association will sponsor light refreshments.
Peterson said, "At that time new exhibits as well as a new wing to the facility were planned. The new wing was built with bond funds and opened in 1998. However, the funds for the new exhibits that were being planned were lost. New trail signs and the cases and the diorama for the old wing was built a few years ago. It has taken until this year that new exhibits were created for the facility. With funding from donations over the last 20 years and great designs and help from the Oklahoma Historical Society design crew, a new era for interpreting this special prehistoric site is dawning."
The Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from noon until 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission, except for special programs, is free although donations are appreciated. The center is three miles east of Spiro on State Highway 9/271 and four miles north on Lock and Dam Road. For more information or to schedule a group or school tour call (918) 962-2062 or e-mail spiro@okhistory.org.
Peterson said the Spiro Mounds site was opened to the public on May 9, 1978, as the first and still the only prehistoric archaeological Native American site open to the public in Oklahoma. The exhibits that were developed by the Oklahoma Archeological Survey at that time have been the main exhibits for the site for the last 30 years. Starting out as a state park with the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department, interest in the site ebbed and flowed until the transfer in 1991 to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
