Redone Franklin museum to open
PHILADELPHIA » A museum dedicated to the city’s most famous Founding Father is reopening after nearly two years of renovations.
The new Benjamin Franklin Museum will welcome its first visitors Saturday.
The 7,000-square-foot underground facility had opened in 1976 at the downtown site where Franklin’s house once stood. By 2011 many displays and exhibits were broken or dated. The facility closed that fall to undergo a $15 million refurbishment funded by a public-private partnership.
The new museum features artifacts, computer animation and interactive displays. The location also includes a ghost structure outlining the size of Franklin’s three-story brick house.
National app has extras for clients
ST. LOUIS » National Car Rental has launched a mobile app that goes beyond just making and reviewing reservations.
The extras start when you land. Getting to your rental car sometimes requires a bus or a tram; National’s app welcomes renters to the city and gives step-by-step directions to the cars.
National is known for letting members of its Emerald Club loyalty program who reserve a midsize car select their own vehicle at certain airports. With the app, renters can view real-time inventory and select a specific model. They can even pick the color. That car is then secured for 15 minutes. The first three airports with the system will be Omaha, Neb., Richmond, Va., and Tulsa, Okla., starting Sept. 30. National hopes to expand it to 25 locations by the end of the year.
The app also provides directions back to the lot.
Civil war battlefield changes hands
RICHMOND, Va. » Richmond National Battlefield Park has acquired a large portion of a Henrico County battlefield where one of the largest Civil War battles in the state was fought.
The June 30, 1862, Battle of Glendale was the penultimate in a series of battles known as the Seven Days. The Confederate army was unsuccessful in its bid to cut off a Union retreat. Some historians say it represented one of the Confederate army’s best opportunities for a war-changing victory. Despite its significance, little of the battlefield had been preserved until recently. It will be available to the public.
