Dakota County Historical Museum

Purpose: Supporting Lifelong Learning The LeDuc Tour Project is the design and implementation of a comprehensive tour program for the LeDuc Historic House and Grounds, which will open to the public in 2005. The house and grounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the site is one of the most complete and intact ensembles of buildings and grounds designed by Andrew Jackson Downing. The gothic revival buildings date from the 1860s and are virtually unaltered. The project has two components. In the first, the guided tour program, the goals are to complement and extend the usefulness of the interpretive exhibit program currently being designed and offer a tour program that uses live interpreters. In the second, the virtual tour program, the museum will create an onsite and offsite Web-based virtual tour to accommodate visitors who are unable to access parts of the site and grounds because of disabilities or fire code restrictions; those who cannot visit because of weather or distance; and those who simply want to learn more about this nationally significant site. This grant will fund the conception, research, design, implementation, and evaluation of these two components.