Submarine and Pearl Harbor Gun Anchor New Minnesota Military Museum Near Camp Ripley

(KNSI) – A new Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum is literally rising from the ground near Camp Ripley.

Executive Director Randall Dietrich says the finishing touches are being put on a reconstructed submarine that traveled the seven seas under the banner of the Twin Cities. “Next time you make that trip, you’re going to notice a submarine emerging from the prairie in central Minnesota…A very important part of naval history, the namesake the Minneapolis Saint Paul — Los Angeles class nuclear submarine, went into action in 1984, decommissioned in 2008.”

The organization has worked out of a small building on the base for decades, but now every traveler on Highway 371 heading to Lakes Country will be tempted to turn off. Dietrich tells KNSI radio the timing couldn’t be better. “We’ve been doing this for 50 years. The chance to have a brand new building opening up on our 50th birthday in the nation’s 250th birthday, a confluence of some nice things coming together, and we’re going to celebrate service at this new museum starting next summer.”

The gun that started Pearl Harbor will also be relocated to the grounds when the expansion is complete. It has sat at the state capitol greeting visitors for years, and will continue in that role at this new crown jewel of a venue on the fringes of Camp Ripley.

Over $20 million was included in the 2023 bonding bill to reenvision the museum.

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