of Ohio would contribute $500,000 to the project if the community could provide matching funds. Local efforts to raise the necessary money began immediately after the announcement, with a number of Wapakoneta residents forming a centralized fundraising committee. Over 9,000 people in the area donated to cause within the first year, surpassing the governor's request and raising $528,313.55. Construction Governor Rhodes appointed Dan Porter of the Ohio Historical Society to head the overall project. A committee was formed soon after to share ideas, accept bids, and collect relevant artifacts. The museum's winning design was an architectural first, with officials choosing a simulated lunar base layout. The design was a geometric, steel-reinforced concrete building with large earth mounds surrounding the structure to resemble being underground." On the Moon, these mounds would have protected the base from micro-meteorites and the harsh radiation from space. The building's most noticeable feature is its large white dome placed in the center of the structure, which would have been used as a pressure dome if on the lunar surface. Because of its white appearance and the museum's association with the Apollo 11 mission, the dome has also become known to symbolize the Moon. A large straight walkway with airport landing lights guides visitors to the front entrance, with the original concept representing a lunar landing strip. The groundbreaking took place on April 16, 1970 in a 16 acre plot of farmland on the east-end of city. The creation of inside exhibits was given to Tom Crouch of the Ohio Historical Society. Years later, Crouch was named as a Curator for the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. Many of the museum's inaugural artifacts included the Gemini VIII spacecraft, an H-1 rocket engine, and Armstrong's spacesuits. On July 20, 1972, three years after the historic Moon landing, the museum held its grand opening, honored by the attendance of Armstrong, his family, and Tricia Nixon Cox, standing in for her father, Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States." Tricia Nixon Cox also had the distinction of transporting an Apollo 11 lunar sample to the museum for display. An estimated 10,000 people attended the opening, with doors unlocking at precisely 2:00 pm. Expansions The first major expansion for the museum occurred in the late 1990s, which removed a garden on the museum's south wing and constructed the Modern Space Gallery in its place. The gallery tells