Master plan
Rep. Dewey Hill, left, and Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. unveil a model of the proposed new facility for the N.C. Museum of Forestry in Whiteville with museum director Harry Warren, right, leading the ceremony for more than 200 visitors Tuesday evening.

Staff phohto by Mark Gilchrist

Museum of Forestry Master Plan - click here

By RAY WYCHE
Staff Writer

The North Carolina Museum of Forestry Tuesday evening unveiled an ambitious master plan for enlarging and renovating the present building that will add about 40,000 square feet to the complex and will add spectacular new exhibits to show how our lives are directly connected to our woodlands.

The master plan that was three years in the making was revealed at the ceremony attended by about 225 people, including state and local officials. When the four-phase project, estimated to cost $20 million, is completed, the museum will offer new exhibits that show the history of forests in North Carolina and how mankind has been connected with trees.

The Forestry Museum is a satellite of the N. C. Museum of Natural Sciences.

The new additions to the museum building at the corner of Columbus and South Madison streets will encompass three sides of the present structure that was once a bank and will extend onto the old Fuller Furniture Store site adjoining the museum on the south.

The project as presented to the audience by Louis Cherry, principal architect of Cherry Huffman Architects of Raleigh, will be “the perfect place to tell the story of forestry in our state,” Cherry said.

“The concept of this museum is a walk through the woods,” Cherry said.

The Museum of Forestry with its new additions is “conceived as a living ecology machine and a living building,” according to a statement in the master plan, and will feature an open, soaring design making use of natural light. Many components of the building will be made of local natural woods and recycled materials.

The structure is designed to be ecologically friendly; solar panels for power generation will be integrated in the building and rainwater will be captured and processed for landscape irrigation. The building’s plan takes into account prevailing breezes for ventilation and the open construction will reduce heat buildup in the museum.

The building’s design shows many open areas to give it an outdoorsy feel under its steel mesh roof.

The master plan follows meetings throughout the state with constituency groups to obtain input for the design work.

The plan calls for several interpretive areas dealing with different phases for the state’s forestlands, including the need for proper forest management.

The unveiling of the master plan, with museum Director Harry Warren serving as master of ceremonies, featured remarks by local, state and Museum of Natural Sciences officials.

“For three years we’ve been working on this master plan,” Warren said. “Tonight is the end of Phase One and the beginning of Phase Two.”

Speakers praised the support people have given the museum.

Museum of Forestry Board Chairman Butch Blanchard said the institution appreciates the backing given by residents and said of the plan for new construction, “We need this support.”

William G. Ross, Jr., secretary of the N. C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said the unveiling of the master plan was “to celebrate the power of partnership and leadership. Nothing like this ever gets done unless that partnership is there. There is tremendous power in a plan, but you are the real builders.”

Dr. Betsy Bennett, director of the N. C. Museum of Science, praised the local support for the museum.

“I think you have been fabulous,” she said to the audience.

Warren had high praises for Dr. Bennett, his boss, and the leeway she gave him as the first director of the museum, to get the institution up and running.

“She gave me enough rope to hang myself or to make a hammock. I prefer to make a hammock,” Warren said.

Cherry showed a scale model of the museum with the proposed additions and said the design lends itself for use as an educational center.

“It will use trees as a model of a forest throughout the building.

“Tourists will come. Our hope is that this place will be a real magnet,” he added.

Warren said the museum renovations will be financed with public and private funds.

The museum plans to change its name, develop a membership program, and establish a website in the coming years, he added.