Daniel Boone Wilderness Road Interpretative Center Blazes Forward

by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

How do you . . . design a rustic museum to interpret the history and experiences of an historic figure?

Summary: Roanoke, Va.-based Spectrum Design will design The Daniel Boone Wilderness Road Interpretive Center in Duffield, Va. Named for frontiersman and explorer Daniel Boone, the 15,000-square-foot interpretative museum will highlight Boone’s 18th-century venture with settlers across the nearby Appalachian Mountains. Changing exhibits about Boone and the region’s heritage will be on display in the rustic center, surrounded by southwest Virginia mountains. The interpretative center, which also features sustainable elements and is adapted from an existing prototype, will allow visitors to interpret the history of Daniel Boone and experience the trail he and his fellow pioneers blazed.

The Daniel Boone Wilderness Road Interpretive Center will be sited at the gateway to Kane, Powell, and Cumberland Gaps overlooking Duffield, Va. The center will be funded by various sources at a cost of $3 million. The site was chosen because it was where Daniel Boone led western settlers in 1775. The facility will be based on the Lewis and Clark Visitors Center in Nebraska City and be constructed of stone and heavy timber, underscoring the mountain setting. The center is to be located along the Daniel Boone Heritage Trail and is phase one of a three-phase, 44-acre county project. Construction is scheduled for 2008.

Taking and interpreting Boone’s journey
“The impetus of the project was to expand on the Daniel Boone Wilderness Trail and make people aware of the surrounding cultural heritage,” says Michael A. Rakes, PE, project manager and senior associate/head of civil engineering at Spectrum Design. “The Kane Gap site was the path of least resistance for Boone, the lowest point of crossing. The specific site is a knoll within the valley, with 178 vertical feet of rise from our building location to the main road. The center will be overlooking Duffield with a great view of the mountain range. It’s the dramatics of the whole site that pulled me to this project.”

Rakes says the intent is to lead the public through Daniel Boone’s journey. “It’s not a visitor’s center or conference center. It will be strictly an interpretative center, more like a museum.” Visitors will be able to visit changing galleries of Boone artifacts, view the rugged, dramatic Kane Gap from a major window, and then traverse by foot or horseback 500 feet up the Kane Gap on the Wilderness Trail, the very same notch Boone and the pioneers traveled. “Visitors will be able to see some of the things they had to overcome as they made their journey, some pleasant, some unpleasant,” explains Rakes. “They’ll actually see the wagon ruts in the rock and come to understand that Daniel Boone’s foot stepped there. It’s interesting if you think of all the heroes and folklore of the Western settlers, then imagine you are watching them pass through.”

Rustic architecture; site adaptation
Heavy timber and stone will be incorporated into the structure’s high-sloped ceilings, canopy, expressed columns, and mezzanine. “The mezzanine will protrude out into the vestibule with heavy timber involved in the railing systems,” explains Rakes. “And the main entrance will a have a canopy supported by hand-crafted logs for a rustic appearance.”

The center is based on the Lewis and Clark Visitors Center in Nebraska City with site and program adaptation. “We performed a program analysis and comparison and came up with modifications of interior spaces for specific needs, such as open spaces slated for exhibit displays that have not yet been designed. We adjusted the construction to meet the southwest Virginia climate, which affected mechanics, electricity, windows, and building orientation. The Nebraska prototype was designed to view the Missouri River through certain focal points in the building, whereas our orientation is adjusted to meet Kane Gap.”

Sustainable elements will also be incorporated into the center that include geothermal heating and cooling, a highly insulated building envelope, non-VOC finishes, low-volume plumbing fixtures, and a rain garden for bioretention.

Changing galleries
In its floor plan, Spectrum had to factor in open spaces for changing galleries that will exhibit displays on Daniel Boone and the region’s heritage. The exhibits will be designed by other groups or come via donations when the building is complete. But Rakes and his team have some exhibit ideas of their own, including about the John Anderson Blockhouse safe haven, where Daniel Boone brought settlers to gather and prepare against Indian attacks; a tribute to Boone and his party of 30 axmen who blazed the westward trail; and “The Crooked Road,” a music portion celebrating Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail that runs through the Appalachian Mountains and connects major heritage music venues. Rakes adds that artifacts and exhibits could also periodically be loaned from the Smithsonian Institute.

Rakes points out that while the changing galleries will attract out-of-towners, he believes they will provide an added bonus. “The changing galleries will pull in the heritage of the area, which is a plus to the community because they can see what’s new and different today, continue to come, and reinvent their interest in their community.”