Changes are in store for Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

The ceremony kicked off a $10 million fundraising campaign that will fund upgrades to the museum. The money raised will create the 9:03 Fund, named for the minute after the bombing took place on the morning of April 19, 1995.

The upgrades are outlined in the memorial's recently completed master plan.

Memorial Executive Director Keri Watkins said those upgrades would make better use of technology to tell the story.

For example, Watkins said, visitors will be able to point smartphones at certain displays to learn more.

Interactive tabletop displays will allow the viewer to retrace the steps of bomber Timothy McVeigh or a victim of the bombing.

“Where technology is today is so different than when we built the museum a decade ago,” she said.

Mike Turpen, co-chairman of the 9:03 Fund, called the unveiling “one of the biggest days in the history of Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.”

Besides funding improvements to the museum, the fund will allow the foundation to maintain the memorial — a task that, though it often goes overlooked, is important and expensive, he said.

The foundation pays about $975,000 a year to maintain the outdoor memorial.

Before the official start of the fundraising drive, the foundation raised $5.25 million for the fund, placing it just past the halfway point.