Showing posts with label Museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Museum. Show all posts

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Gloucester, VA Old Page Middle School Site, What Should We Do With It?

There are a lot of questions being asked about what we should do with the old Page Middle School site.  Ideas have ranged from yet another community park to a community recreation center, a place to institute a new multi garage and repair center for the county and school board vehicles to selling the property to a commercial developer.

  Here is something to consider, it's got plenty of land and space for building what the county could really use.  A living museum.  Yes, we already have a museum.  A very tiny one.  Not a living one.  The county is always looking for ways to promote tourism and trying to figure out how to get more of the tourist dollars that go to other areas such as Jamestown, Yorktown and of course the big one, Williamsburg.  Those are areas with very rich histories.

  Looking at the entire scope of history however, Gloucester ranks right up there with these other locations.  Our history is no less remarkable and we just do not take advantage of it the way we should.  In the past, because of it's location, Gloucester was not a solid contender for being added to the list of joining Jamestown and Yorktown in crafting plans for promoting history and tourism.  Gloucester lacked a solid way to come into the county.  Today that simply isn't the case with a 4 lane bridge connecting us to those major centers.

  Gloucester lacks promotions of Pocahontas, Powhatan, Tobacco plantations, indentured servant uprisings, Bacon's rebellion, Battle of the Hook, Rosewell, Walter Reed birthplace and the first shots fired in Virginia during the American Civil War and the list is much larger than this.  Gloucester history is American History and we sit on it doing very little to promote and take advantage of it.

  Look across the river and watch as Yorktown continues to grow along with the new major museum being built there.  A well planned living museum could do massive  wonders for this community.  Gloucester does not lack historians with an incredible knowledge of this area's history by any means.  Warren Deal and the entire team that put together the Battle of the Hook event back in October did one of the most spectacular jobs anyone could ever begin to imagine.  The educational value would also be a incredible blessing.  We would happily donate all we could to the concept.  If Gloucester is to grow into the future, our leaders need to start looking at what is needed to make that happen in a well structured way that will benefit the community.  Are we to just sit on our history and let it rot never to take advantage of its opportunities?

  If we wait for some company to come in and take advantage of our history, well we have already been doing that and it has gotten us nowhere.  It's time to be proactive.  A new and properly planned living museum could bring in some very much needed tourist dollars and also enhance area education.  It's a win win situation.  In fact, it's Revolutionary.





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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Yorktown Victory Center, Construction Views, (Part 3)




We received some of the inside construction pictures to allow everyone to see what is presently going on at the Yorktown Victory Center and how the new museum is progressing.  Pictures are courtesy of the Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation.  The above picture is of the finishing of the center basement slab of the upcoming American Revolution Museum.


This picture is the south elevation.


Here we have the installation of the basement concrete masonry looking west.  Starts to put the entire project into perspective as to just how big this museum is going to be.


Here is the foundations of the north elevations.  This is the section closest to the entrance into the present living museum.  

  The Yorktown Victory Center is open everyday with the exception of Christmas Day.  Yes they will be open for Thanksgiving and have a very special day planned for Thanksgiving where they will be demonstrating the collection of food from the farm and food preparations of the period.  

  Average length of a tour is about 2 and half hours.  Now of course that is just an average and is dependent on one's level of interest.  A history buff could spend and entire day here and still want more.  The indoor museum which we are not able to show pictures of, because indoor photography is not permitted, could easily take up half your day.  But allow us to clue you in.  If you have ever been to Disney, the level of displays are easily comparable.  It's the best of both worlds.  Living history and traditional museum history and an incredible movie theater showing even more.

  It's a great way to step back in time and immerse yourself into the 18th century period.  To see what our forefathers fought for and why.  What the struggles of life were really like.  Put your cell phone away while you are here.  You do not want modern distractions to spoil the experience.  

  Yorktown offers incredible history and it is found throughout a number of streets in the historic area.  But the best is found right here at the Yorktown Victory Center, soon to be the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.  

  Oh and let's not forget what we are expecting of the new structure.  It's going to be an 80,000 square foot super center to be considered a nationally recognized facility with classrooms and event space.  Plus the farm and encampment areas will be expanded and an amphitheater will be added to the mix.

   Even though we are still a while away from the new American Revolution museum being completed, it's an amazing journey through time exploring the Yorktown Victory Center.  Put a trip through this place on your calendar as soon as you can.  You will be glad you did.  
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Yorktown Victory Center Remodeling Updates, Part 1


























The Yorktown Victory Center has been under a remodeling for some time now, however, their doors have remained open to the public and the experience is just as grand as it has always been.  We took some time this week to explore the facility and take a number of pictures and meet with some of the staff as well as the reenactors to get a better picture of what is going on.  Though they have a large wall up surrounding the new construction site, giving the appearance that maybe they are closed, the living museum experience has not suffered in the least by the new construction.

  The staff at the facility were great and very helpful.  While we walked around the the colonial American farm section of the living museum, one of the staff members was cooking some incredible meals that both looked and smelled very delicious.

Meals are made in period fashion to give visitors a real world idea of what life was once like for our forefathers and foremothers for that matter.

The entire farm section of the living museum is incredibly recreated in very rich detail and includes tobacco farming common during the era.

The details recreated in a typical family farmhouse are amazing.  The dinner table all set for the family to sit down and eat once the food is ready.

  Details in every area of daily life are not spared.  Even the laundry area was set up to give visitors and idea of what a typical day consisted of during the period.

 Even the socks were hung out to dry along with other laundry.  Obviously someone earlier in the day had spent time doing the daily load.

There was so much to see and do here alone that this area itself is well worth the visit.  If you have not been to the Yorktown Victory Center in awhile, it's time for a return trip.  If you have never been and you have even the slightest bit of interest in history, then this is a must for your list.  If you are a photographer, then this is a dream place to shoot.

Below is a PDF that shows what is under construction and what we can all expect in the future.  The plans are very exciting.



New Yorktown Museum Highlights Flyer 10 2013 from Chuck Thompson

To view the PDF in full screen mode, please left click the icon at the far bottom right hand side of the Slideshare container.  To exit full screen mode, just hit the escape key on your keyboard.  This is part one in our series on the Yorktown Victory Center.
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