Oct. 21 (UPI) — The White House for the first time in decades will now see an “enhanced” and “expanded” public tour program for visitors to the historic mansion in the nation’s capital city.
On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden hosted an East Room event in the historic executive mansion with volunteers and staffers to unveil the first couple’s revamped White House tour, the White House announced Monday in a release.
“We open the doors of possibilities for all Americans and that’s what this entire project is all about,” the president said in his remarks at Sunday night’s celebration.
Among other “significant” changes will be greater access to White House rooms already included public tours, with the added stop in the Diplomatic Reception Room, where the sitting president typically will sometimes welcome visiting heads of state or hold news conferences, and where former President Franklin Roosevelt gave his “fireside” radio chats during the Great Depression era leading to World War II.
“This is for people to feel it, to taste it, to see it, to understand the nuances,” the outgoing Democratic president stated on Sunday.
The previous White House tour route included only the Library, Vermeil Room and the China Room on the ground floor.
Now, according to the White House, visitors will be permitted to “go further inside each room” so they might “learn more about the room and its history.” And it will incorporate other facets, like more digital tech and signage, to make the tour more interactive and educational for its nearly 10,000 weekly visitors.
“There’s going to be so much more educational content. It’s also an expanded public tour route,” says Deputy Assistant to the President Elizabeth Alexander.
Visitors will now see “a living timeline” and as visitors enter the State Dining Room, White House officials say visitors will now be surrounded with educational content. The outgoing first lady has been an educator for at least 40 years even during her husband’s tenure as vice president and after.
“I know learning has to be interactive and engaging,” Jill Biden said Monday in a statement.
“It has to evoke the senses, and you have to meet students where they are, giving them what they need to spark their curiosity and imagination,” she added.
Other facets include more technology and storytelling to help add civic and other historical context along the tour route about the lives of past first families
The tour improvements saw support by The History Channel — which has done work for others like the Smithsonian, the Statue of Liberty and the Civil War’s Gettysburg — and the National Park Service.
“The White House, like all national parks, are living classrooms that provide the public with inspirational and educational opportunities to connect with our nation’s shared heritage,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams.
Jill Biden explained on Monday that when she became first lady she took a White House tour and “thought there has to be a way to reimagine this tour experience, add more educational content and story-telling, while also preserving and protecting its history.
“So, we did,” she said about the years-long plan to make White House tours better that also included the White House Curator’s Office, White House Historical Association and the sprinkling of U.S. presidential libraries and museums.
But how the public visits the White House appears to have stayed the same. Prior to the 9/11 terror attacks on U.S. soil, tours of the presidential mansion had been a more open process where you could obtain a ticket to go inside the very same day. Now, however, future visitors must request tickets in advance via the White House or a member of Congress in either the Senate or House chamber.
“Preserving our country’s history, investing in education, and engaging the next generation,” Paul Buccieri, the president and chair of A+E Networks Group, which includes The History Channel, said Monday. “Is at the heart of the new expanded White House tour.”
The television executive says the network was “honored” to help the Biden’s on their “special initiative” aimed at enhancing White House tour experiences “for the American public and visitors from around the globe.”
