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Tri-Cities Regional Reach Interpretive Center Breaks Ground

RICHLAND, Wash. – Supporters of an interpretive center devoted to the Hanford Reach broke ground during a ceremony Wednesday in the Tri-Cities, Washington. The museum is getting a solid start now after earlier opposition from nearby tribes.

Despite the dreary weather, the audience and a school band were in an upbeat mood just beside the stony-tinted, calm waters of the Columbia River.

The Reach Interpretive Center will be a 61,000 square foot facility to highlight the Mid-Columbia's science, history, nature and peoples. Armand Minthorn, a spiritual leader of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation, blessed the building site.

"History can help take away or lessen ignorance. History can help, or lessen or take away prejudice. That is true. And today we are here to preserve that history," Minthorn said.

Tribal support for the project came after organizers moved the building site. Tribal leaders said the original spot would have destroyed cultural resources.

Copyright 2011 Northwest Public Radio

The Reach

Copyright 2011 Northwest News Network

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.