New National Medal of Honor Museum Launches Selection Process for Architectural and Exhibit Design Firms

The foundation established to design, fund, build and operate the new National Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point has launched a formal selection process for architectural and exhibit design firms.

A Request for Qualifications from the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation is the first step in a selection process that will culminate in the choice of a design team by early August and detailed conceptual designs by early December 2014.

"Our goal is to break ground for the new museum within two years, and to have it complete by 2018," said Museum Foundation President Robert C. Wilburn. "Our Medal of Honor recipients from World War II and Korea are in their 80s and 90s. We hope to have the museum well underway and open in time for them to experience it."

Announcements have been posted on the RPF-Leads website and with the American Institute of Architects. The Foundation also has reached out directly to about two dozen architecture firms and more than a dozen exhibit design groups. The request invites interested firms to submit information on their qualifications and past experience. Firms are asked to provide information on experience with similar projects, including at least two examples of national museum experience. The foundation also asks architects to demonstrate their experience with LEED and/or sustainable practices.

"We want this museum to become 'A Home for America's Heroes'," Wilburn said. "As such, we are seeking a design team that can design a museum that will be an iconic addition to the skyline of the Charleston Harbor."

The 100,000 square foot museum will house exhibit galleries, a chapel, classrooms with distance learning capabilities, and meeting and conference spaces. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society has designated it as the National Medal of Honor Museum. It will preserve and present the extraordinary stories of individuals who reached the highest levels of recognition, "above and beyond the call of duty," in service to the nation.

Programs and exhibits will be designed to inspire current and future generations about the ideals of courage, integrity, patriotism, leadership and sacrifice; to help them understand the meaning and price of freedom; and to encourage them to embrace their responsibilities as citizens in a democracy.

The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit educational organization established to design, fund, build and operate the new National Medal of Honor Museum at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. A campaign has begun to raise the $98 million needed to fund design and construction of the museum, exhibit galleries, fundraising and administrative costs and contingencies.