The highly-anticipated public opening of the spectacular North Carolina History Center is scheduled for October 2010. The new gateway to the Palace is a very contemporary museum and welcome center located on a six-acre remediated site just east of the Palace and gardens. Nestled in historic downtown New Bern, the attraction is beautifully sited on the Trent River.
The 60,000 square-foot museum features:
The Mattocks Hall, the 6,600 square-foot entrance to Tryon Palace, will greet visitors with an astonishing array of interactive stimuli. Soaring ceilings, panoramic views of the Trent River and wetlands, multimedia displays, history performances and an introductory exhibit called "Its About Time" immediately signal that this living history museum is about experience.
Click here to view Construction Gallery Scroll over the thumbnail images on the bottom of the gallery to see the date the photo was taken and follow the construction timeline.
We wish to thank Al Hesketh, a volunteer,
who photographed the images in this gallery.
The Cannon Gateway provides a lovely transition to the historic area, which includes the colonial governor’s palace and gardens, the 18th-century John Wright Stanly House, the 19th-century Robert Hay House, the George W. Dixon House and the New Bern Academy Museum, which is currently closed to the public. Numerous public gardens and historic landscapes await visitors. Before embarking on this journey through time, visitors are offered the History Navigator, a hand-held computer, to enrich their experience. The History Navigator allows visitors to explore the past by offering diverse human viewpoints and experiences and an enjoyable menu of filmed performances, information and images.
The Regional History Museum gallery begins with the formation of the central coast of North Carolina exploring its development from occupation by native peoples to the coming of European and African settlers. Colonial prominence, the birth of a new American state, and the lives of free and enslaved North Carolinians all come together to offer a compelling view of our shared past.
The Pepsi Family Center transports young visitors via the Pepsi Time Machine from 2010 to a virtual village in 1835. Children and adults are given color-coded computer scan cards upon their arrival in the Pepsi Time Port. Flight attendants caution time travelers to observe safety regulations so they will not get stuck in the Time Continuum as images of the 20th century give way to the 19th. Once they arrive in 1835, visitors form teams to accomplish virtual tasks - loading and sailing the good ship Snap Dragon, distilling turpentine and producing naval stores, producing a quilt, cooking a virtual meal, assisting customers in a dry goods store and printing a newspaper.
The Cullman Performance Hall, features state-of-the-art acoustical and lighting design to engage visitors in performances enjoyed by past generations of Americans. The Tryon Palace Players will regularly present historic dramas to complement an on-going program of concerts, lectures and other musical and theatre events.
The Duffy Gallery will open in September 2010 with the acclaimed Bern New Bern exhibit which premiered in the Historical Museum of Bern, Switzerland in December 2009. The Duffy Gallery will host a continuous program of changing exhibits to explore the rich history of North Carolina.
The History Center features visitor amenities including an event court overlooking the Trent River, a riverside Café, a Museum Store and orientation theaters. The historic landscape of the History Education Center presents restored wetlands, scenic walkways and native plants gracing the river’s edge – all in tribute to John Lawson, explorer and naturalist, who lived nearby in the very early 18th century.
BJAC Architectural Collective, Raleigh, NC, coordinated the design and construction of the North Carolina History Center. The building designer was Quinn Evans from Georgetown, Washington, DC. The interpretation and exhibit designer was ESIDesign, New York, NY. Landscape designer was EDAW, Alexandria, Va. The construction manager at risk is Clancy & Theys, Raleigh, NC. Design for the North Carolina History Center building came from the grid pattern of the New Bern town plan created in 1710, the wharves and warehouses that once filled the downtown harbor, and the 19th and early 20th century commercial architecture of New Bern.
A green-designed project, the History Center is a candidate for silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. It features wetlands to filter storm-water run-off, an underground cistern to capture rain water for irrigation and replenishment of the wetlands, and recycled building materials. Parking and pedestrian areas have a permeable surface allowing for absorption of run-off. Building operation includes energy-savings devices and engineering to achieve optimal mechanical efficiencies. Stewardship of the historic landscape is an important part of the mission of Tryon Palace.
The landscape features outdoor exhibits to encourage visitors to explore the natural history of the central coast as well as the story of naturalist and explorer John Lawson who explored much of this area of North Carolina in the early 18th century. Knowledge of the land use of native peoples, settlers and their shared descendents will also acquaint visitors with environmental best practices in the 21st century.
