Marine Corps Museum Announces Expansion Plans

On October 24, the National Museum of the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Heritage Foundation announced that it has chosen Fentress Architects, architect of the original museum, to design an expansion that will include three additional galleries with exhibits interpreting the periods from 1775 through World War I. The two-year-old museum, which draws three quarters of its visitors from outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia, recently hosted its one millionth visitor. The galleries will feature immersive experiences for which the museum—located in Triangle, Va., on the Quantico Marine Corps Base—has become widely recognized. New components, funded by the foundation and supporters, will include more than 100,000 square feet of additional historical galleries, office space, a large-screen theater, a permanent art gallery and artist studios, a performance space, classrooms, and a display/storage gallery for the many artifacts currently not accessible to the public. In the two years it has been open, the museum, has won more than 18 design awards, including an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum/Metropolitan Arts Press, a merit award from AIA Northern Virginia, and an Honor Award from AIA Virginia. Construction on the new galleries will begin in January 2009, with the opening slated for 2010.