Visitors can now see the framework of the building that will replace the Yorktown Victory Center next year.
A metal frame of the sprawling 80,000-square-foot American Revolution Museum at Yorktown building is now in place, a sign construction is on target to finish by the end of the year. The museum building is slated to open in 2015 with the outdoor portion scheduled for completion in 2016.
Once construction of the new building is completed, the ticket sales office and gift shop will move in. The Yorktown Victory Center gallery is expected to close for about three months while artifacts are moved into the new building.
“If you think the quality of Jamestown’s exhibits are good, I think we’ll surpass that here at Yorktown,” said Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Executive Director Phil Emerson during a presentation Tuesday.
Sarah Meschutt, senior curator for the new museum, said about 75 percent of the items needed to fill the new gallery space have been purchased or secured on loan. An exhibit recently closed at Jamestown Settlement, which provided a snapshot of some items intended for the new museum. In May, the museum still needed 230 artifacts; now about 125 will need to be acquired to fill the space.
Inside the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, the permanent gallery space will be divided by several themes: The British Empire and America, The Changing Relationship—Britain and North America, Revolution, The American People and The New Nation.
The 80,000-square-foot building, while a large part of the new museum, is not the only piece of the project.
The museum also includes an outdoor experience where a Continental Army encampment and farm will be re-created. Both outdoor living history exhibits will move after the existing Yorktown Victory Center, which opened in 1976, is demolished. The plan for those areas is not completely firm, but does include changing from a post-Revolution to an American Revolution-era farm with an expanded farmhouse. A new building is planned to represent slave quarters. The encampment will more than triple in size.
Additional programming will be added to the museum. One piece Emerson revealed Tuesday would allow guests to sign enlistment papers, which they could take home with them along with their first month’s pay – in play money.
Several films are planned to help museum guests feel immersed in history. One of the films will transition guests from their visit inside the museum to the interactive farm and encampment outdoors.
Planned in phases, the museum’s construction is now in phase two, which focuses on constructing the building. The first phase dealt with parking, but only a third of the new parking area is complete today; the remainder of the parking lot can be completed once demotion occurs in phase three. After the museum and ticket building are demolished, the encampment will close and merge with the farm. The final phase will complete the outdoor area and put the finishing touches on the museum.
At the end of 2016, the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will be complete.
For more information about the new museum, visit the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation website.
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