SIMI VALLEY : Visitors Get Close-Up Look at Oval Office

When Ronald Reagan was President, he rarely removed his suit jacket in the Oval Office because “casual attire seemed out of place there.”

But at the recently reopened Oval Office exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library near Simi Valley, there is no dress code.

This week a group of camp youths and visitors from Taiwan were among the first to examine the new exhibit, which allows tourists for the first time to enter the famous surroundings for a closer look.

“We’ve decided to move toward more environmental exhibits,” said Stafanie Salata, a library spokeswoman. “We want people to experience what it is like to be President--or at least to visit the White House.”

As visitors enter the Oval Office exhibit, a greeting recorded by Reagan meets them at the door.

On the four-minute tape, the former President tells a bit of the history of the office, first occupied by William Howard Taft in 1909.

For the children visiting Friday, the office exhibit was interesting and informative.

“I think they’re getting a real good look at what the White House is like,” said Joel Hoffschneider, a counselor at an Oxnard summer camp. “And I think the older kids are getting a better understanding of the political history.”

Thousand Oaks resident Zsay Shing took two visitors from Taiwan to the library and was surprised to be able to walk into the Oval Office exhibit.

“Last time I could only stand at the door,” he said. “Now we can get a closer look and really see the detail.”

Originally opened in 1991, the exhibit allowed visitors only as close as the doorway. Now a walkway with a guardrail allows a whole tour group to enter at once.

“This is just what people wanted,” Salata said. “They wanted to be able to walk in there and see it up close.”