Their plan focused on a mock up of what the museum could look like and what exhibits it should have, as well as identifying the top four site locations in downtown Waynesboro and how each could influence what the museum would be like.

“Community meetings held in Waynesboro were extremely valuable for us to develop this master plan,” said Abbie Chessler, a founding partner of Quatrefoil. Much of the talk centered on helping to revitalize Waynesboro’s downtown area.

Valley with a unique history

The Waynesboro museum will explore connections between water, geology, life and the passage of time at the intersection of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley. Visitors will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Virginia’s natural heritage, Chessler said.

“We want to let what people want to see drive what the museum looks like,” she said. “That will keep people coming back.”

The design team estimated that it would take about 8,000 square feet to house the exhibits and create a positive visitor experience. Chessler and her team want to pull people into the story of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah Valley as soon as they walk into the museum.

“When visitors first enter, they should see something dramatic that pulls them in,” she said. “They might see a large skeleton suspended from the ceiling or something else, but there should be some kind of central activity space.”

“The main zone should be where everything comes together,” she added. “It should be central enough that people could start there and end there.”

Chessler then outlined several different exhibit themes that the museum should have, based on the actual geological and archaeological history of the Valley. The botany exhibit, for example, would feature plants that people can see in Shenandoah National Park and that would connect visitors to the surrounding area outside of the museum.

The museum would also feature a zoology exhibit that would focus on the wildlife found in the Valley and Blue Ridge area. Chessler said the museum could showcase information about animals like the Big Levels Salamander, a species found only in Augusta County. A paleontology and geology exhibit would focus on the early life and formation of the Shenandoah Valley, a story millions of years in the making.

“It’s a dramatic and beautiful story that is unique,” Chessler said. “Waynesboro provides a great opportunity to tell that story.”

Chessler and her team also designed an open lab space area where museum visitors can watch scientists at work, cleaning fossils and making plaster casts. The idea also presents partnership opportunities with area universities and schools, to offer educational opportunities for students, Chessler said.

There could also be a quieter area with the larger specimens on display, with seating, where people can sit and think about the exhibits. There could also be about 2,500 square feet of space for classrooms and meeting rooms, Chessler explained.

She and her team also wanted to introduce the idea of a play area for younger children to explore science. Chessler offered many ideas, including a stream running through the space, a cave area where children can go “spelunking,” and a dinosaur sig site.

“There are a wide range of ways that people can engage with the exhibits,” she added.

The design team also created an outdoor area that could either be on the rooftop or on the ground level that would let people explore more of the Valley’s plant life and get a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Based on their design ideas, Chessler and her team estimated it would cost about $500 per square foot in the 8,000 square foot area of exhibits. That would put a price tag of about $3 million dollars for the overall exhibit space.

“In our experience, that’s a very doable price,” Chessler said.

Picking a location

After months of narrowing the search, three buildings and a plot of land were chosen as the four best spots for the potential museum. All four locations are in the downtown area of the city on Main Street to encourage the revitalization of the area.

“It was apparent in the community meetings that there was a laser focus on downtown Main Street,” Chessler said.

Architect Bill Spack then took over to talk about the pros and cons of each location, both physically and monetarily. Spack determined that the museum would require at least 18,000 square feet, including 2,700 sq. ft. for the lobby, 8,000 sq. ft. for the exhibits, 3,000 sq. ft. for program areas like a lab and classrooms, 2,500 sq. ft. for administrative offices, and 1,800 sq. ft. for building support.

The first location Spack presented was the G&W Motorwerkes building and comes with a price tag of about $7.2 million and about 40,000 sq. ft. of space. The building is the most “move-in ready,” however, and would not require very much construction, as it was renovated in the 1980’s. The site is the most removed from public parking facilities, though, and has no space for outdoor programs.

The second location found in the center of Main Street is an old furniture store that comes with a price of close to $6.917 million and 48,000 sq. ft. of space. The building was last renovated in the 1950’s, but is in fair physical condition for its age, Spack said. The mid-block location would put the museum in a desirable location, but Spack said it would take a considerable amount of money to fix the building and get it ready.

The third location is the historic Leggett’s building that comes with the highest price tag of the four at $9.896 million and 40,000 sq. ft. of space. Though it is a historic structure and has the potential to revitalize the downtown area, Spack said the building has structural issues and is not in great physical shape. The large space could accommodate on-site visitor parking or exterior museum program space, though.

The fourth potential site is a parcel of land owned by the city of Waynesboro located at the eastern gateway to the city, next to Constitution Park. The site comes with a potential price tag of $7.32 million and a space of 17,000 sq. ft. Spack said the museum would be strategically located near the South River, the park and the downtown commercial district. He also said there would be plenty of space to develop outdoor programs, as well as parking lot.

“The costs are about equivalent, but with the open municipal site you only build what you need,” Spack said.

Based on their study, Spack and his architectural team ranked the four sites in order of greatest to least desirability and advantage for the museum. At number one, the team agreed the open municipal site would be the best spot, followed by the G&W Moterwerkes site, the mid-block furniture store site and the Leggett’s building coming in last.

Keeping an open mind

Members of the board made comments and asked questions, but most seemed in favor of bringing a location of the Natural History Museum to Waynesboro. Board Member Dr. Mervyn King preferred the open municipal site over the other sites and said that a new building would be more efficient.

“With the river running by, I think that’s gorgeous,” he said. “It’s a very positive sight.”

King also brought up the idea of a outdoor space on the roof and asked whether that was necessary. Spack said it would be worth it, while fellow Board Member Janet Scheid said a similar space was very popular in Roanoke and could be rented for weddings and other receptions.

“It has pizzazz for rental space you don’t get with just ground space,” she said.

“We call it a green roof because it’s environmentally green but it will also bring in the green,” added Joe Keiper, executive director of the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

Next step in the plan

Keiper then outlined the next steps in the plan to bring the museum location to Waynesboro. The museum will cost about $10 million in total to complete, with an annual operating cost of $321,500 once it is up and running.

The next step, Keiper said, is to conduct a fundraising feasibility study to determine if the board can raise the needed money. Then, the board can move forward with the Conceptual Architectural Design plan, to figure out what they can afford and what the museum can realistically look like.

“You have to build to a budget,” said Spack. “Once the budget is determined, then you can figure out what exhibits you can do. Otherwise, you get into territory you can’t realistically build.”

Once that is done, the Board can begin fundraising, develop an interpretive plan of what will be in the museum and then begin the process of applying for a request for proposal, or RFP, to begin the bidding process of constructing the museum.

“To be prepared, we would like to write up an RFP, but not submit it, just to have it ready,” said Keiper. “We would also like to schedule one or more field trips for Board members to visit Waynesboro for them to see the potential and match that with the master plan.”

Follow Lauren Berg on Twitter @LBergTNV