Building Memory: Why Interpretive Centers Matter in an Era of Social Change

Beyond the building envelope, there are an array of strategies that can make for an effective interpretive center. Context is one. In the past, buildings like these were often located near the historical site but with no organic relationship to it; now, as in our recent Niagara Falls State Park Welcome Center, the focus is on forging a vital connection to the site, with views out to the Niagara River Gorge and the roaring cataract to allow the landscape to tell its own story. The variety of different media, ranging from artifacts to video to digital interactives, is also crucial to appeal to potential visitors of all ages and backgrounds, and to present them with as many options as possible to engage with the subject matter. And the opportunity to guide the user experience isn’t confined to the center’s interior, with intuitive wayfinding routing visitors around and through the site, we are able to extend the experience and activate the whole environment. Even amenities like dining, rest areas, and the gift shop (shot glasses and all) can be marshaled in the service of stirring, provocative space-making, along with many things ordinary visitors might not notice but that nonetheless reinforce the key themes of the site. Our Pikes Peak Summit Visitor Center in Colorado, for instance, meets the stringent ecological standards of the Living Building Challenge, thereby helping to preserve the very natural environment it celebrates. 

Ensuring the curatorial message hits home is obviously key and it is incumbent upon us to make sure it’s the right message, or messages, that get through. In our Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center in Maryland, there was a particular imperative to hear Tubman’s voice alongside the voices of millions like her desperate to escape from slavery. The challenge of inclusion—ensuring that everyone is present and accounted for, most of all those who were traditionally left out of the historical conversation—makes it all the more important to create interpretive centers, like Tubman, that guarantee different points of view and provide spaces for events and programming to bring in outside speakers who can broaden the center’s scope and invite further participation from the audience. 

Equally as important is ensuring an equitable experience. The top of Pikes Peak would usually be all but inaccessible, especially for older visitors and those with physical challenges. But gentle grading and accessible overlooks elevated above the fragile tundra ecosystem, along with parking and a cogwheel train to carry guests to and from the summit, ensure the center and experience are as equitable as they are sustainable. The functional as well as the formal sophistication of any interpretive center can be measured by way of a few simple questions: For whom does this building make room? Who does it speak to, and whom does it allow to speak?