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The popularity and increase in the number of people requesting tours
of LIberty Hall created a need for a facility that could help alleviate foot
traffic and ease the stress placed on the 250-year old mansion. The
Academic Center will do that, helping to preserve the integrity of the
Liberty Hall property for generations to come.
“The foot traffic of more than 20,000 visitors annually places tremendous
strain on the mansion and museum grounds,” Farahi explains. “The new
facility, with its state-of-the-art gallery space, will help relieve some
of that stress and provide opportunities for multiple exhibits over the
course of a year.”
The Academic Center will also serve as a resource to visiting teachers and
their students. Plans for an Historic Research Library within the Center
include the ability for teachers to download premade lesson plans to
incorporate into their curriculum, offering an invaluable resource in
teaching the history of New Jersey in their classrooms.
With 14 offices, six classrooms, and five seminar rooms, the Liberty Hall
Academic Center will also help play a role in Kean’s mission of delivering
a world-class education to its students. The Center will house the History
Department, one of Kean’s programs of distinction that has received
numerous accolades and awards over the years. All of the Department’s
course offerings will be taught in the Center, meaning that every Kean
student will spend at least one semester utilizing the facility classrooms
and experiencing the Liberty Hall collection.
