Sharon;

The best visitor center I have seen at an historic site is, by far, the
Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia. Good seconds are the Cahokia Mounds
site in Illinois and Sovereign Hill at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. I have
just reviewed the draft interpretation plan for Fort Stanwix in Rome NY (in
the development of which I played a small part) and they are going to have
an exciting new center, potentially second to none. Other worthwhile visitor
centers are those at Algonquin Provincial Park (Ontario's largest) which
tells both the history and the natural history well) and the Batoche
battlefield site in Saskatchewan, though it's history is VERY skewed. I
would have to give at least an honourable mention to most of the Civil War
sites, of which my favourite is Antietam, primarily for the high quality of
its staff. Best orientation center in a museum? North Carolina History
Museum in Raleigh wins it hands down.

NOT to be emulated are Colonial Williamsburg and Old Sturbridge Village.
Please don't get me wrong. They are among my very favourite places and excel
in so many things. Unfortunately, their visitor centers don't work, unless
all you are interested in is fast visitor processing. It is a great pity; I
suppose if the rest of the sites weren't quite as good, management might
worry more about the visitor centers!!!

What do I look for in a visitor center? It makes the break between the
visitor's time and place and that of the site he/she is visiting. It shuts
out the world outside and starts the process of taking the visitor to
another time and context. It includes enough information, excitingly
presented, to let the visitor understand what he/she is about to see and how
it fits into its world and its history. It gives the visitor a taste of some
of the things that, inter alia, will be explored in depth by the displays
and, especially, living history in the main site - and it should be able to
do all these things for both individuals and groups, if in different ways.
Oh yes, and it should also sell the visitor his/her ticket and get him/her
moving into the site proper.

It can also be a center for special events, for educational programs and, in
the case of Fort Stanwix, is also proposed to house a large part (if not
all) of its impressive collection of material associated with its Rev War
history. It can also house the gift shop (I must admit that the Old
Sturbridge Village gift shop is the best large shop I have ever seen in an
historic site; Fort George on the Niagara frontier in Ontario gets the nod
for best small shop.)

Harry

----- Original Message -----
From: Sharon Kayne <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2000 4:34 PM
Subject: Visitor Services


> Thank you to all who responded to my inquiry about visitor centers.  Now
> we are looking for suggestions of people and places that exemplify best
> visitor services practises  at historic sites/house museums.  Before we
> actually design and build our visitor center, we see the importance of
> defining what services we need to  provide to visitors for a rich and
> meaningful experience.  Then we'll build that into the center.
> Recommendations of resources, people and places will be gratefully
> accepted!  Please excuse cross postings.
>
> Sharon Kayne
> Ten Chimneys
> Box 225
> Genesee Depot, WI 53217
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message
to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help"
(without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).