QUINCY, Ill. -  The Gardner Museum of Architecture and Design reopened for the 2009 season on Saturday, March 14.

There are several new exhibits open for viewing that include "Gardner Denver - 150 years of Industrial Innovation", "The Gardner Family Mansions", "Ernest M. Wood, Photo Retrospective II", "Aspirations in Glass", and "Lincoln Slept Here".

The Gardner-Denver exhibit features the history of the company from its meager beginnings in Quincy to the worldwide industrial corporation of today. Artifacts include one of the very first governors, an early garage compressor and prototypes of today.

The Gardner Family Mansions exhibit features the homes that R.W. Gardner lived in along with those of his heirs. The beautiful mansions of Quincy that belonged to the family are some of the masterpieces of architecture scattered throughout the city.

“Ernest M. Wood, Photo Retrospective II, 2008” is a photo exhibit of local architect Ernest Wood’s works.  Along with the photos, the exhibit includes some of his blueprints and artifacts.    Wood designed many buildings and homes in Quincy and the surrounding area from the 1890s until the late 1920s.  His work often is thought to be that of Frank Lloyd Wright.  Wood was in contact with Wright and bought some of his plan books. 

“Aspirations in Glass” features the museum’s beautiful stained glass collection in the second floor gallery.  The exhibit shows the stained glass windows from a variety of churches in the area that have been demolished.  There also are pews and artifacts from area churches included in the display.

"Lincoln Slept Here" features the three buildings that Lincoln is known to have slept in while visiting Quincy. It also contains a desk from the Browning Mansion that Lincoln is believed to have used. Additionally, the exhibit shows the buildings around the square close to the time of the debates.

Group tours are available by appointment.  Please call the museum at 217-224-6873.   

The museum is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday afternoons from 1-4 p.m.. 

Admission is $3 for adults, $1.50 for children 10 and under.  Admission is free for museum members. 

On March 28, the Gardner Museum will host a bus tour of Ernest Wood-designed homes and buildings from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in conjunctions with the Wood exhibit on display at the museum.  The tour will include driving by the outside and sometimes touring the interior of several of Wood’s homes in Quincy, Warsaw, Palmyra and Hannibal.  Lunch will be available at the Warsaw Brewery in Warsaw, Ill.  Those on the tour will be able to order from the menu.  Lunch is not included in the price of the tour.  A snack and bottled water will be provided on the tour.  Cost is $30 each non-members, members $25 each. The deadline for reservations is March 14.

The Gardner Museum's 2009 Garden Tour committee also is looking for a few more gardens in the northwest part of Quincy for its garden tour on April 25 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.  This area would be any home north of Maine and west of 24th.

This year's tour will feature spring plants and flowers.

If you have a garden, or know of a garden that could be included in the tour, call the museum at 217-224-6873 or e-mail gardnermuseum@sbcglobal.net.