Voter alert: Time running out on National Infantry Museum’s bid for ‘Best Free Museum’

One has a breathtaking collection of paintings and objects that it has accumulated since its opening a century ago, offering an expansive appreciation of art and the expertise it takes to create and preserve it.

The other bleeds a vast array of anything and everything U.S. Army Infantry, collected from its humble start in 1959 to the grand opening of its impressive new home in 2009. It offers a comprehensive look at the human conflict and toll it sometimes takes to allow people the freedom of enjoying art.

They both want to taste the same glory — to be declared the “Best Free Museum” in America by virtue of a popular vote through a USA Today Readers’ Choice 2016 competition.

It has come down to this. The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center in Columbus is now No. 2, just behind the Cleveland Museum of Art, which has been at the top of the leader board for about a week. That was after jumping from the No. 12 position just over two weeks ago, the same weekend the local military museum was vaulting over the Saint Louis Art Museum to No. 1.

Crunch time is here. The online balloting concludes at noon next Monday, with voters able to voice their opinion once a day until then.

(VOTE HERE for the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center)

Even with 18 other fine museums across the United States nominated for the contest, it may be the National Infantry Museum’s and the Cleveland Museum of Art’s competition to lose.

The Cleveland, Ohio, museum has taken a more low-key approach to the contest, simply asking the public to vote it as America’s best museum that doesn’t charge an entrance fee. It also linked to a Cleveland Scene item that called it “one of the greatest treasures of art in America.” The Cleveland attraction has nearly 45,000 pieces of art and 70 galleries, covering 6,000 years of the art world. Its works include Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh and Michelangelo, said USA Today, as well as Egyptian mummies, African masks and plenty of medieval weaponry.

The National Infantry Museum, meanwhile, has been exalting those who love the museum and the colorful history of the U.S. military and its ground troops to leave it all out on the voting battlefield as the competition pushes toward its conclusion.

“We need our friends and supporters to cast votes ONCE EVERY DAY between now and August 29 to assure the win! Please share and show some love! Vote now,” the National Infantry Museum said Monday on its Facebook page. Said Toni Bull, one previous visitor: “This museum has a special place in my heart as my son's boot camp graduation was on the grounds and what a AWESOME sight that it was!”

The National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center is a 190,000-square-foot hall with several exhibits and halls of honor chronicling various conflicts and campaign exploits through the military’s 240-year history. A World War II Company Street and Vietnam Memorial Plaza both honor moments in time, while the museum’s signature attraction called, “The Last 100 Yards,” focuses on the fact that it often takes infantry soldiers — boots on the ground — to claim the final piece of earth in a firefight or battle. The facility also includes a giant-screen theater and restaurant. A large viewing stand outside allows visitors to watch graduating Infantry and Armor troops on the grassy parade field before them.

(National Infantry Museum battling for ‘Best Free Museum’ in America)

Both the National Infantry Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art are listed on the online site, TripAdvisor, as the No. 1 things to do in their communities. The Columbus attraction draws more than 300,000 visitors each year, while the Cleveland facility brings in about 600,000 people annually.

Before opening in June 2009, the $110 million infantry museum and its artifacts that include weapons, uniforms, flags and military vehicles was housed in a former hospital on Fort Benning’s Baltzell Avenue. The new facility is just off the installation.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Voter alert: Time running out on National Infantry Museum’s bid for ‘Best Free Museum’."