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Slugger Museum hits homerun with new renovations

Major Improvements Include New Film, New Bat-Making Processes, Relocation of Historic Demonstrations, and More

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory has made new changes to its previous factory tour experience. Since Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory opened in 1996, this is the first major factory tour renovation. 

Tourists now begin their experience with a captivating 3.5-minute video that gives an inside look to the forest and mills where every Louisville Slugger bat begins its journey. An enticing screen projection stretching from the ceiling to the floor illustrates how important the selection of each piece of wood is, before it reaches the factory. 

New features highlighted among the tour are the custom spray process, pad printing, and mini-bat production. Accompanied by bigger monitors, a better sound system, and new footage that take guests inside the machinery, Louisville Slugger Museum has invested its efforts with improving their overall tour experience.

The giant Pro Player Billet Bin, displays the billets destined for star players on every major league team. Guests can walk up and observe as billets become bats, even having the ability to pull out billets selected for their favorite players and teams.

Credit: Louisville Slugger museum
Crowd looks at the billet bin where each bat finds out what player it is assigned to

Anne Jewell, vice president and executive director of Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory has prided herself on improving the factory experience for tourists.

 “One feature that has always set Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory apart as an unforgettable experience is the authenticity of walking through the heart of our production line. This is a genuine, working factory and our guests are in the middle of the action,” Jewell said.

Jewell believes that the improvements made in the factory will generate a better experience for guest at the historic bat making museum. 

“Now, that experience is even better with these major league upgrades improving the sights, sounds, and stories that surround our guests here,” Jewell states. 

Two location changes have been made for the very popular and historic bat-making processes. The old-fashioned hand-turning demonstration where bats go to be carved, and the burn branding process where bats are rolled over a 1,300-degree iron plate for branding have been moved out of the factory and into the museum gallery. 

Credit: Louisville Slugger Museum
Factory wall graphic

Local architectural company JRA has been credited for master planning, writing and content development, exhibit design, graphic design, executive media production, project management and art direction for the renovation.

MoPics directed the new pre-tour movie and Schaefer Construction provided pre-construction, demolition, and general contracting services on this and previous projects. 

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