Community members and officials gather at Fuller Lodge on April 8 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos. Photo by Mark MacInnes/ladailypost.com

The first permanent site manager for the Los Alamos unit of MAPR, Nicholas Murray, addresses the crowd at the 10th anniversary celebration on April 8 at Fuller Lodge. Photo by Mark MacInnes/ladailypost.com

By MARK MACINNES
Los Alamos Daily Post

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park (MAPR) celebrated its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, April 8, at Fuller Lodge. The event drew a standing-room-only crowd. Highlights included milestones of the first decade and a look ahead to expanded public access and new interpretive spaces.

Now in its second decade, the historical park comprises three sites—Los Alamos, New Mexico; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Hanford, Washington—that together attract about 70,000 visitors each year.

Established in 2015, the park operates under a unique partnership between the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Unlike traditional national parks, much of the land remains under DOE control, requiring coordination among preservation, public access, and national security missions.

In Los Alamos, outside the LANL boundaries, the County, private citizens, and the Los Alamos Historical Society own the original WWII buildings, including Fuller Lodge (former Boys School), the Oppenheimer home, and other facilities of key significance.

Significant local milestones include the appointment of the first permanent Los Alamos MAPR Site Manager, Nick Murray, continued restoration work at Technical Area 18, and the unveiling of plans for a new visitor center in a renovated dormitory just north of Fuller Lodge.

The program also reflected the park’s rich cultural and historical context. Darrell Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo opened the evening with an invocation in Tewa. Students from Barranca Mesa Elementary School performed selections from the children’s musical “Oppie”, tracing the region’s history from ancestral Puebloan communities through Spanish settlement to the Manhattan Project.

“[The goals of historical site preservation for MAPR sites on LANL property] is to improve public understanding… and enhance public access,” said DOE Liaison Warren Hurley, noting the challenge of balancing that mission with national security concerns and environmental cleanup at an active laboratory.

Over the past decade, the park has expanded LANL access through guided “behind-the-fence” tours of historic laboratory sites, though availability remains limited. Demand has grown significantly, with thousands applying for tour slots through a lottery system.  DOE program manager Jonathan Creel emphasized the complexity of opening active laboratory sites to visitors. “About 50 people have to touch each tour before it can go,” he said.

Locally, the park’s success has relied heavily on partnerships. Speakers highlighted the roles of the Los Alamos Historical Society, the Bradbury Science Museum, nonprofit groups, and volunteers in laying the foundation for the park’s growth.

“We could not have made it through this past year without all of you,” Cole said, describing the park’s “small but mighty” team and its reliance on volunteers.

Looking ahead, the park’s next major step is the development of a new visitor center in a restored Manhattan Project-era dormitory building. Plans include reconstructed dormitory rooms that will allow visitors to experience daily life during the wartime project, along with expanded exhibit space and improved accessibility.

“This will be the official… visitor center here in town,” Nick Murray said, adding that the site will be fully accessible to the public.

The new center reflects an expanding interpretive focus, incorporating the experiences of workers, families and communities alongside the scientific history of the Manhattan Project.

The evening concluded with the group photo and anniversary cake, marking both a milestone and the audience’s enthusiasm for the beginning of the park’s next phase.

Acknowledgement: AI tools were used in the audio transcription and formatting of this article.

Attendees celebrate with an anniversary cake marking 10 years of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. Photo by Mark MacInnes/ladailypost.com