Battleship Cove Fall River, Massachusetts Role: Concept Architect & Museum Planner for New Visitor Center & Museum Program: lobby, permanent & changing exhibits, cafe, gift shop, library, archives, classrooms Building Area: 35,000 sf Status: Pending funding Description: Verner Johnson was commissioned by Battleship Cove, a well-respected veterans’ Concept Floor Plans CONCEPTUAL MASTER PLAN memorial and a regional museum for maritime Second Floor: Upper Deck heritage, to provide professional services to develop • The Upper Deck is accessed via a stair or eleva- a Comprehensive Master Plan for a new world- tor from the Secure Lobby. • All the permanent exhibits are located together on the west side of the Lobby and includes an class institution to showcase the world’s largest immersive gallery (a rentable space) adjacent to a covered balcony terrace (with a patial glass floor) collection of historic World War II naval ships. that has dramatic views of the historic ships. OFF CONF MECH DIR • Classrooms are accessed directly from the Secure Declining attendance and revenue created the LIBRARY KITCH "THE SHIPS" ARCHIVES Lobby’s balcony. Included is a children’s (messy) OFF classroom and a finished (rentable) classroom/ OPEN TO necessity to develop short and long term initiatives BELOW OPEN boardroom (that also has an outdoor viewing OFF OFFICES MECH OUTDOOR IMMERSIVE EXHIBIT GALLERIES deck) VIEWING THEATER OFF and planning strategies to move the institution DECK "A NATION" MAIN STAIR • The Library and Archive Storage are located directly off the exhibit areas (with direct access "THE PEOPLE" forward towards as a premier local and national to the elevator) and could be converted into additional exhibit space in the future CLASSROOM W M educational and tourist attraction, and the cultural OUTDOOR DECK MEETING • The Administrative Offices are located on the ROOM east side ofConcept the Lobby, Floor Plans accessed CONCEPT viaU aAL bridge MASTER or PLAN hub for the Fall River waterfront. from below by a dedicated stair The Comprehensive Master Plan Verner Johnson Note: No publicFirst roof Floor: deck is Main proposed Deck because the deck of the Battleship is already a great space for • The Main Deck’s Lobby is open to large outdoor events (limited, given New England’s created gives credibility to and builds support the public, and has direct connections weather). The roof would be and ideal location PARK ENTRY to Toilets, Ticketing, Cafe, Store, for a “green” roof and/or solar panels to help the Tourist Information, and the multi- for the future vision of the Project. An initial museum meet its goal of being an energy efficient purpose Changing (flexible) Gallery PUBLIC PLAZA and environmentally sustainable (LEED®) facility. Feasibility Study analyzed the existing conditions • The Lobby includes iconic exhibits RAMP on display and views into the galleries - institutional, physical, and economic - and SEC above CATER CAFE W M INFO RECEIVING/ • There is a control point adjacent to VernerJohnson MUSEUM ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS with LEISURE BUSINESS ADVISORS LLC 53 BATTLESHIP COVE COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN FINAL REPORT ST/ UNCRATING defined the breadth of the Project. The Conceptual COVERED OUTDOOR COAT the ticket counter that enables paid STEPPED SEATING visitors to access the Secure Lobby MEMORIAL Master Plan built on this study and explored an HALL OF and the Memorial Hall (could also all HONOR SECURE be open to the public during events) LOBBY PUBLIC LOBBY CHANGING architectural concept design, producing renderings TIX OFF GALLERY • From the Secure Lobby, a visitor INV can experience the Memorial Hall and and descriptions suitable for fundraising. access the Second Floor STORE ST • This arrangement allows for the Lobby, Memorial Hall, Changing To produce this document, VJI led a series of PUBLIC PLAZA Gallery, Cafe, Catering, and Toilets to be utilized in any combination visioning sessions with Battleship Cove’s executive for rentable functions without giv- ing access to the remainder of the leadership, Museum Board, Staff and Stakeholders museum • Ramped and stepped seating lead designed to result in clear recommendations of how from the museum to the boardwalk Battleship Cove could better expand its mission Note: Service entrances are shown with blue arrows. "BAILEY" BRIDGE TO HISTORIC SHIPS PARKINGProposed LOT Site Development CONCEPTUAL MASTER PLAN and be economically viable for the long term. The ENTRY VIA BRIDGE Comprehensive Master Plan began with an analysis VernerJohnson MUSEUM ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS with LEISURE BUSINESS ADVISORS LLC 52 BATTLESHIP COVE COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN FINAL REPORT of the existing conditions in relation to comparable Proposed Site Plan facilities that have pursued similar expansions. It also included a comprehensive market analysis and site analysis, where four potential museum site locations were diagrammed,The overall preliminaryanalyzed, master plan and site development, including a new 35,000 square foot land-based museum reviewed, indicating pros and(“New cons Museum”), for each.is illustrated in the Proposed Site Plan shown here. Note that new structures are indicated in yellow and existing structures are shown in grey. The architectural goal was to create a new and exciting land-based, year-round museum institution, advancing its scholarly and professional standards while simultaneously being entertaining and compelling to compete with its audience’s other numerous leisure-time options. The architectural concept is to develop a dramatic iconic museum in the image of an aircraft carrier to “complete” the naval fleet, cantilevered over the boardwalk and offering a panoramic view of Existingthe historic Site Plan ships. VernerJohnson MUSEUMVernerJohnson ARCHITECTS MUSEUM ARCHITECTS& PLANNERS & PLANNERS with LEISURE BUSINESS ADVISORS LLC 47 BATTLESHIP COVE COMPREHENSIVE MASTER PLAN FINAL REPORT Verner Johnson MUSEUM ARCHITECTS & PLANNERS.