when did the world war 2 museum open in new orleans
June 6, 2000
title: The National WWII Museum text: The National WWII Museum The National WWII Museum, formerly known as The National D-Day Museum, is a military history museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Andrew Higgins Drive between Camp Street and Magazine Street. The museum focuses on the contribution made by the United States to Allied victory in World War II. Founded in 2000, it was later designated by the U.S. Congress as America's official National WWII Museum in 2003. The museum maintains an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution. The mission statement of the museum emphasizes the American experience in World War II. title: The National WWII Museum text: the visitor an overview of the war on every front. Other multimedia displays are integrated into most of the museum's exhibits, notably the dozens of video oral histories conducted with veterans of the war by museum staff. The Museum currently houses two restaurants, The American Sector Restaurant & Bar and the Soda Shop. The museum sponsors a wargaming club and holds a wargame convention each year called "Heat of Battle". The museum also hosts a World War II-themed quiz bowl tournament, which is televised on Cox 4 New Orleans. The Museum closed for three months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New title: New Orleans Central Business District text: park in the CBD is Lafayette Square, upon which face both Gallier Hall and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Other public spaces include Duncan Plaza, Elk Place, the Piazza d'Italia, Lee Circle, Mississippi River Heritage Park, Spanish Plaza, and the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Plaza. Museums include the National World War II Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Louisiana Children's Museum, the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center and Confederate Memorial Hall. New Orleans CBD was one of the few areas of New Orleans that escaped the catastrophic flooding of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans title: The National WWII Museum text: Orleans in 2005, re-opening on December 3 of that year. A museum banner promoted the re-opening by proclaiming "We Have Returned," a phrase made famous by General Douglas MacArthur regarding his eventual return to the Philippines in 1944. As of 2015, the Museum is in the midst of a $400 million capital expansion campaign called The Road to Victory: A Vision for Future Generations. The expansion has resulted in significant increases in attendance. The Solomon Victory Theater, Stage Door Canteen, and American Sector restaurant opened in November 2009. The John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion opened in June 2011. The US title: Joseph Beyrle text: plaque was dedicated at the site on July 5, 2014. An exhibition devoted to Joe Beyrle's life and wartime experiences was shown in Moscow and three other Russian cities in 2010. The exhibition opened a four-city American tour at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, with showings in Toccoa, Georgia and Omaha in 2011, and Beyrle's hometown of Muskegon, Michigan in June 2012. A permanent installation of the exhibition is now on display at the USS Silversides Museum in Muskegon. Joseph Beyrle Joseph R. Beyrle (; August 25, 1923 – December 12, 2004) is thought to be