Gettysburg’s current visitor center opened on April 14, 2008. There are entrances to the Visitor Center along both the Baltimore Pike and the Taneytown Road. The Visitor Center is visible from the Culp’s Hill Tower.
The new visitor center was built at a cost of $130 million. The new building is designed to resemble a 19th century barn, with a stone face for the visitor center and red planks for the attached building which houses the famous cyclorama painting. (The Cyclorama was unveiled in September 2008).
The new Visitor Center places more of an emphasis on telling the story of the entire Civil War versus just the Battle of Gettysburg (depending on why you’re visiting, and your knowledge level, that can be a pro or con). It is also a public-private enterprise; the Gettysburg Foundation is the group that is responsible for the day-to-day operations. The biggest difference, however, is that the new Visitor Center charges a fee to see the park’s collection whereas the old Visitor Center was free, save for the Electric Map and Cyclorama, which had nominal charges. The museum of the new visitor center was sold to the public and those who raised funds to build it as remaining free for the public to visit – but let’s be honest: the U.S. government hasn’t ever exactly been known for, or good at, keeping its promises.
If you’ve never visited Gettysburg and/or know little about the battle, the Visitor Center “experience” is something I would recommend doing once. If you have visited Gettysburg before and have a good knowledge of the battle, or you visit Gettysburg multiple times a year, you probably won’t get much out of making repeated visits; whereas the old “VC” had a ton of battle-related stuff to see for free and made for a good place to walk around on bad weather days, the new VC is pretty expensive and it’s really geared toward school groups and first-time visitors versus Civil War buffs. (If you visit during the school year be warned: the VC can be flooded with noisy school kids, and this makes enjoying the museum very difficult.)
So yes, some of us who remember the “old days” do miss the old VC. 🙂 Sure, it was musty, sure the Electric Map was a little corny, sure it was terribly located in terms of being on a critical piece of the battlefield, and sure the Cyclorama desperately needed preservation and a new home — but at least it was free and geared toward the battle and it was enjoyable for the repeat visitor.
Pro Tip One: The only way to see the Cyclorama painting now is to sit through the park’s movie – which is fine once, but if you’ve watched the movie Gettysburg or have read a book about the battle, your knowledge level will be well beyond the movie, and having to sit through a movie just to see the painting is highly annoying. (The movie has nothing to do with the painting and is basically an overview of the Civil War and how Gettysburg fits into it. About ten minutes of the twenty minute movie actually is about the battle.) However, the NPS occasionally hosts “sensory free days” during the off-season where you can see the Cyclorama without the light show or having to sit through the movie and with the house lights up for no charge – I highly recommend going if your trip coincides with one of those days because seeing the Cyclorama is WAY better without the narration/light show or having to sit through the movie.
Pro Tip Two: For serious Gettysburg buffs/people who don’t want to or can’t afford “the experience,” the NPS’s excellent bookstore can be visited without paying an entrance fee and there are often changing exhibits outside the bookstore which you can see without charge.