National Army museum scheduled to open Nov. 11 in Virginia

(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — A national museum dedicated to the U.S. Army is scheduled to open next month in northern Virginia.

Plans for The National Museum of the United States Army have been in the works for more than a decade; construction began in 2017.

The five-story, 185,000-square foot museum is set on 84 acres of a publicly accessible section of Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County.

The Army said this week that the museum will open on Veterans Day, November 11.

The opening will feature enhanced health and safety measures for visitors. Admission is free, but timed-entry tickets are required to help manage capacity.

Earlier plans to open in June were scuttled because of the coronavirus.

Officials have projected the museum will draw 750,000 visitors a year.