TICONDEROGA -- Fort Ticonderoga officials say they've opened a "momentous season" this month to celebrate the fort's 100th anniversary as a historic landmark open to the public.

Director of Marketing Marci Hall said public access to the fort grounds and its collections began in 1909 with a dedication attended by President William Howard Taft.

The significance of the restoration started by the Pell family that year is eclipsed only by the final completion of the Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center this year, she said.

Both the building and a new exhibit will open to the public after a formal dedication at 2 p.m. July 6.

The 2008 season ushers in celebrations and new visitor experiences, including the landmark new exhibit "Face of War; Triumph and Tragedy at Ticonderoga, 1758-1759" in the Mars Center.

The first new exhibit in many years, it details the lives of soldiers taken directly from their diary entries and letters.

The rebuilt magasin du Roi, the king's warehouse, also hold classrooms and a great room for meetings and functions. The building relies on geothermal wells for heating and cooling, and offers, for the first time, handicapped access to the terreplein walls and second-floor exhibits.

The 250th anniversary of the French and Indian War is the designated "signature event" for the I Love NY Tourism season and will be the biggest event to take place on Fort Ticonderoga grounds in modern times, Hall said.

"Over 2,000 re-enactors from all over the world will be assembling to commemorate and celebrate the Battle of Carillon, Major General Abercromby's dramatic loss to the Marquis de Montcalm and the death of Lord Howe."

The log breastwork that played a key role in that 1758 battle has been rebuilt on the north field and will be the focal point of re-enactment battles at 2 p.m. June 28 and 29.

A week later, at 11 a.m. July 5, the British and the Black Watch will be remembered with a procession from the fort to the Scottish Cairn, accompanied by clans, bagpipes and Scots from Canada, England and the United States.

At 11 a.m. July 8, the French victory will inspire a procession led by the Fort Ticonderoga Fife and Drum Corps to the Montcalm Cross across from the cairn.

The public is invited to join in all these remembrances.

The King's Garden opens June 1 and will feature family programs and daily tours.

"The King's Garden offers insight into native species of the peninsula and information on local environmental issues, as well as a place for picnicking," Hall said.