Now open, the John E. Kushner Restoration Pavilion offers an up-close look at macro artifacts from World War II, including the museum’s patrol torpedo boat, PT-305, which returned to its permanent location on campus in 2022. Museum visitors can view the fully restored ship from the Lester and Beverly Wainer PT-305 observation deck and learn more about its wartime crew and service periods. The pavilion also houses the STEM Innovation Gallery, an educational space that offers visitors the opportunity to engage in tactile learning and exploration.
Originally built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans, the PT-305, nicknamed the USS Sudden Jerk, was a key U.S. Navy ship during World War II, serving in the Mediterranean from 1944 until the end of the war. After years of civilian use, the PT-305 was acquired by the museum in 2007 and volunteers spent the next 10 years restoring it, investing more than 120,000 labor hours. In March 2017, the iconic ship began offering rides and tours on Lake Pontchartrain, where it was originally tested by Higgins Industries. In 2022, the PT-305 returned to the museum as plans were developed to make it more accessible to a wider audience on campus.
The STEM Innovation Gallery features hands-on experiments and authentic WWII-era macro artifacts, including a Dodge WC-9 ambulance and an LVT-4 (Landing Vehicle Tracked), to demonstrate how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics supported and advanced Allied efforts in WWII.
In the future, guided tours of the interior of PT-305 will also be offered, and the pavilion will become a dedicated facility for the restoration and preservation of the museum’s priceless collection of World War II macro artifacts.
