Vote now: National Infantry Museum battling for ‘Best Free Museum’ in America

It’s already No. 1 in the hearts of Columbus-area residents and visitors to this Deep South city along the Chattahoochee River. But the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center needs your help to garner even more recognition across America.

The museum, a shrine to all things historic and great surrounding the 240-year history of American ground troops, is vying for the honor of “Best Free Museum” in America as part of a USA Today Readers’ Choice 2016 competition now underway.

The National Infantry Museum, located in south Columbus adjacent to Fort Benning, is among 20 nominees for the Top 10 list that will be determined by your votes, a process that wraps up Aug. 29. The honorees, including the coveted No. 1 museum, will be revealed in early September.

At midday on Friday, the museum was No. 6 on the voting leader board. But as of Saturday afternoon, it had climbed quickly to No. 2, with more than three weeks left for devoted fans of the museum to vote it to the top and keep it there.

(Click here to vote for the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center)

(Click here to see all 20 nominations for Best Free Museum in 2016)

“Having a 10 Best endorsement will give travelers one more reason to discover for themselves how the NIM honors soldiers and the sacrifices they make preserving our freedom,” said Carmen Cavezza, chairman and chief executive officer of the National Infantry Foundation, in a statement. Cavezza also is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and former Fort Benning commander.

“People are often surprised to find a museum of this caliber in Columbus, Ga.,” Cavezza said of the 190,000-square-foot museum, which cost $110 million to construct and opened in 2009. “But Fort Benning has long been known as the ‘Home of the Infantry,’ and so it made perfect sense for this world-class tribute to be erected right here, where Infantrymen and their families can get immersed in the legacy every day.”

The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center already is listed as the No. 1 “thing to do” by online site TripAdvisor, which relies on public feedback and consumer scoring to determine rankings.

“We need our friends and supporters to cast votes once every day between now and August 29 to assure the win,” National Infantry Foundation spokeswoman Cyndy Cerbin said in an email to the media. “The exposure we get as a 10 Best Free Museum will further cement Columbus’ and Georgia’s reputation as a travel destination, and further stimulate economic development as a result of increased tourism.”

And dare we say, there’s just something cool about having the best anything in your hometown. That means the competition will be keen due to the world-class competition the National Infantry Museum is facing from across the nation and in very large cities.

As of Saturday afternoon, here is the Best Free Museum vote “leader board” on the USA Today site, with the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis in first place and the National Infantry Museum at No. 2:

▪ 1. Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis

▪ 2. National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus

▪ 3. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo.

▪ 4. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.

▪ 5. Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis

▪ 6. National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton, Ohio

▪ 7. Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore

▪ 8. The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore

▪ 9. Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington

▪ 10. Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington

▪ 11. The Menil Collection in Houston

▪ 12. Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland

▪ 13. USS Constitution Museum in Boston

▪ 14. The Getty Center in Los Angeles

▪ 15. American Computer and Robotics Museum in Bozeman, Mont.

▪ 16. National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago

▪ 17. San Francisco Cable Car Museum in San Francisco

▪ 18. The Museum of FIT in New York

▪ 19. The Broad in Los Angeles

▪ 20. Frye Art Museum in Seattle

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 12:06 PM with the headline "Vote now: National Infantry Museum battling for ‘Best Free Museum’ in America."