The 43 acres in Toronto’s downtown west end that make up the Fort York National Historic site is of huge civic significance in Toronto’s founding landscape. Built in 1793, the site remains Canada’s largest collection of original War of 1812 buildings. But despite it being considered the birthplace of urban Toronto, it isn’t the easiest place to get to.
“It is glaringly obvious how difficult it is to find Fort York and it has been like this for years,” explained David O’Hara, Museum Administrator at Fort York .
But, with construction underway on a new visitor centre at the site, that is set to change. The new building, O’Hara said, will enhance the visitor experience and elevate the site to become the key part of the broader public realm in Toronto’s parks system.
The new visitor centre will serve to orient visitors and expand public programming by providing enhanced facilities.
O’Hara said the building will also open space to the public in the historic structures, which were being used for administration.
The building will house washrooms, a gift shop, food service, and multi-purpose rooms. It will contain multimedia programming, permanent and changing exhibits, a Battle of York immersion experience, as well as facilities for education, research, staff and community use.
“It’s a museum and a visitor orientation centre, but it’s also meant to be a community hub or a community centre in nature,” said O’Hara, adding the building is designed so after hours, when the museum is closed, the building can still be used by community groups.
“The site is located outside the fort walls so as not to negatively impact the collection of historic buildings, but also to give it a street presence on Fort York Boulevard with 200 Fort York Bou...
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...d the history and the museum much more porous,” Black said. “It opens the whole site up to the city and the fort embraces the city now.”
Black explained that Fort York, like most museums, only has about 10 per cent of its collection on display at any one time.
The new space will allow them to display the militia colours, the flags sewn by the Ladies of York and presented to the militia unit in March of 1813, just a month before the invasion.
“This is going to be amazing to be able to show them,” Black said.
Expected to take about 18 months to build, the new Fort York Visitor Centre is scheduled to open in 2014.
Access to Fort York (at 250 Fort York Blvd.) by car during the period of construction must be done via Fleet Street and Garrison Road. For more details regarding site access or any other enquiries, call 416-392-6907 or visit http://www.toronto.ca/fortyork
Canadian War Museum. "The Battle of Vimy Ridge, 9-12 April 1917." WarMuseum.ca. http://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/vimy/index_e.shtml (accessed April 2, 2014).
Located in 1 East 70th Street, in New York City, The Frick Collection is an elegant and well maintained museum housed in the former residence of Henry Clay Frick, a successful steel and coke industrialist who amassed an incredible fortune during the 19th century in Pittsburgh. The museum is easily accessible by public transportation as various trains such as the N or the R lines stop nearby at 5th Ave and 59th Street. The collection is open six days a week operating from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Adults are required to pay $20 while students with valid identification are asked to pay $10. On Sundays, the collection institutes a pay as you wish format similar to that employed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. It must be noted that children under the age of 10 are not permitted in the Collection. Tours at the museum are enhanced by an acousti...
“Cleveland Museum of Art: Building,” Cleveland Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, 2013. Web. 25 March, 2014.
The drama of the American Revolution and the birth of a great nation come to life at Yorktown Victory Center. In provocative indoor galleries, witness the Revolution through the eyes of those who were there—from soldiers on the battlefields to women on the home front, from American Indians to African Americans. The evocative film, A Time of Revolution, places you in a Continental Army encampment where soldiers spend an evening reminiscing and musing on their lives and the war that has brought them together. Outdoors, experience the sights and sounds of the Revolutionary War in the re-created Continental Army encampment.
The Jamestown Project discusses the monumental landmark, the colony of Jamestown, was in Atlantic History. The story of Jamestown is told in a much more authentic, elaborate style than our textbooks has presented. As Kupperman points out, Jamestown was not only important to United State’s history but also to British history. From the motivations to the lasting effects, she gives an accurate account of all components involved in Jamestown. Also, there is a chapter devoted to the Native American experience, which shows a non-Western view of events. The book is written in a format that is easily read but also compacted with information. More importantly she puts Jamestown in its right place in United State’s and British history, as the foundation of colonial United States and the British Empire.
...nal Expansion Memorial. Inside the building museum exhibits can be found. It now currently is being preserved by them to remind everyone of a fine example of nineteenth-century architecture. (“Old Courthouse Architecture”)
To my amazement, after trying various peculiar combinations of words such as “army”, “building”, and “Lexington Avenue”, I discovered the name of the intriguing building: The 69th Regiment Armory. The Armory proved to be a more intriguing building than I had ever imagined. The Armory is an active training facility. However, The Armory doesn’t simply house the 165th infantry, rather adds culture to New York City. One may ask, how can a historical landmark (Murray) in which armies train prove to be cultural? We will embark on a journey to discover the second, lesser-known aspect, of the armory.
From that point on there’s a digital interactive guide that displays the layout of the museum and location of the exhibits. The museum is divided into quadrants with an elliptical rotunda in the middle. The rotunda is illuminated by natural light from the glass dome with skylights above you. Also when you look up you can see extraordinary symbolic painting on the ceiling. From the center of the rotunda you can go left or right to see the exhibits of Native Americans. For some reason I felt like going in through the left, aside from the fact that the right side was closed for renovations. I headed left into the “Time Exposure” exhibit by the Haudenosaunee Discovery Room. When entering the exhibit it can seem a bit disoriented, but you just have...
On my most recent visit to West Point Military Academy, I had the opportunity to visit our country's most prestigious military museum. As a scout I attended West Point's Camporees and camped on the cadet’s training grounds at West Point's Lake Frederick. I also participated in an orienteering course at Trophy point, where I first saw the famous cannon exhibit, and numerous statues and monuments. However, during my visits, I never had the opportunity to visit the West Point Museum.
New York is most famous and highly crowded city of the United States. New York has so many men made creatures which you will not able to see anywhere else in the United States. It starts with 102 story Empire State building, 24 hrs open Time Square, Number of museums, amazing Brooklyn bridge which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn and can 't complete without magnificent sculpture of the US is the Statue of Liberty.
As of today there are several buildings in Central Park, two of which predate the park itself—a blockhouse at the north end dating from the War of 1812 and the Arsenal Building which was built between 1847 and 1851 by the State to store munitions. The Arsenal is now home to the City of New York/Parks & Recreation, the Central Park Administrator, the City Parks Foundation, the Historic House Trust, the New York Wildlife Conservation Society, the Parks Library, and the Arsenal
National Park Service (n.d.). History of the Siege - Yorktown Battlefield Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved March 3, 2014, from http://www.nps.gov/york/historyculture/history-of-the-siege.htm
Another non-traditional change is the location of the entrance door. Both building require movement to be understood, as pedestrian walking around the continous facades, the door can be founded which is not located at the center or obvious postion. Especially in Johnson Wax Building, the entrance is hiding within the building and you can only access the building by driving car through. Such a smooth transsition from outside to inside high...
Items displayed in museums hold historical significance and are representative of society’s culture. Preserving valuable collections for education and enjoyment is a primary role of museums. While fulfilling this role, the architecture of the museum is also an important factor. Historical buildings are converted into museums and architects must consider the use of the space and the museum’s purpose during their initial design. Other museums are built with a clear purpose in mind. As museums are designed, many characteristics are determined. Display and storage spaces as well as visitor services impacts museum’s functionality. Based on the function of a museum, architectural requirements are different.
A museum is “a building in which objects of historical, scientific, artistic, or cultural interest are stored and exhibited.” (dictionary.com). This is the literal definition of a museum as well as my view of them coming into my first semester of college. I believed they were boring, outdated places where historical items were displayed. As I moved through the semester, my professor helped me gain a new perspective of these remarkable museums; one of respect and astonishment. Museums are meant to aid in learning and safeguarding of things that should never be forgotten. Of the many great places I visited this semester that adjusted my feelings towards museums, the ones that had the greatest impact were The National Museum of Natural History, The Newseum, The National Gallery of Art, and The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These places are there to remind the general public about things that should never be forgotten; they preserve the history and beauty of the world.