Construction DIVE | In the beginning: A first look at DC’s Museum of the Bible
When Clark Construction was deep in the process of building the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, it decided to take on another — and far different — museum challenge: The Museum of the Bible.
The $400 million museum is funded by the family of evangelical Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, whose personal collection will fill the 430,000-square-foot building. Green is also serving as museum chairman.
While the artifacts on display are largely historical, the technology used to take visitors through the space looks toward the future. Cary Summers, the museum’s president, said the goal is to create “the most technologically advanced museum in the world.”
At a media event on Nov. 17, the construction team shared how it tackled the renovation of a 93-year-old structure on an accelerated schedule, and how project stakeholders collaborated to make technology a centerpiece of the museum.
Media stand in what will be a visitor passageway
Credit: Nan Copeland
A fast-tracked schedule
The museum was established as 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2010. In 2012, museum officials purchased the Washington Design Center near the National Mall in Southwest Washington for $50 million. The building originally housed the Terminal Refrigerating and Warehousing Co., and was designated a historic landmark by Washington’s Historic Preservation Review Board in 2014. In 1983, the building was renovated and converted into the Washington Design Center to showcase high-end furniture.
Brian Flegel
Clark came on board in the fall of 2013, after beating out four other contractors who also submitted bids, according to Brian Flegel, senior vice president with Clark.
From there, the builders hit the ground running with a $250 million CM-at-risk guaranteed maximum price contract requiring the project team to go from initial work to delivery in just three years. Flegel noted that the accelerated timeframe was less than half the typical schedule for a museum project.
Renovating a historical building brings its own challenges, among them updating the space to meet the needs of modern technology. The SmithGroupJJR design required the removal of every other level from the existing structure to accommodate the height of the exhibits. The team also renovated a warehouse on site, added an infill extension and completed a rooftop addition. The eight-story building will feature five floors of exhibits, including a rooftop garden.
Crews started the interior demolition process and lowered the ground floor in December 2014 — before Washington Design Center tenants vacated the building. Major construction kicked off in February 2015, once the structure was vacated, with more than 500 workers on site during peak hours.
Incorporating technology for a modern museum
To achieve their tech-driven goals, the owners have invested $42 million in hardware and software for the visitor experience, including a handheld digital device — the size of a small tablet — that will serve as a personal tour guide for every visitor. Summers said the museum is focusing on technology “to make it fun and encourage engagement.”
Museum officials and their technology partners, such as Lenovo and Technomedia Solutions, have filed a patent for the Mobile Device to Touch Table Recognition System, which allows visitors to use their handheld device to create personalized tours of the space and be recognized by and interact with touch screen tables throughout the exhibits.
As they walk through the museum, visitors can also use their handheld devices to listen to a running commentary offered in a choice of 10 languages. More than 100 scholars and religious experts contributed to the museum’s development and exhibits.
The devices use indoor navigation technology to track visitors throughout the building to let them know what they’re looking at. They also offer augmented reality capabilities that, for example, allow visitors to hold the device over the pages of a book or other exhibits throughout the museum and see moving images — such as short videos — that offer a deeper look into the subject matter.
From one of the world’s largest universities to Hollywood’s most prolific television producer to America’s largest communities of faith to multiple presidential candidates and a multi-billion-dollar financial services firm, Johnnie Moore has been America’s go-to communications strategist when the stakes are high and the mission is critical.
Johnnie Moore founded KAIROS after running public relations across multiple sectors including higher education, entertainment, and politics. He has worked with every major print, digital and broadcast outlet in North America and has extensive experience in more than 50 countries around the world.
He began his career at the 100,000-student Liberty University where he served as the school’s Senior Vice President for Communications during the time when Liberty University added more than 75,000 students to its annual enrollment and added more than $1.2 billion to its endowment and cash reserves. After a dozen years at Liberty University, and before founding KAIROS, Moore was personally recruited by Emmy award-winning mega-producer Mark Burnett (“Survivor,” “Shark Tank,” “The Voice,” “Celebrity Apprentice“) to serve as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Faith Content for his United Artists Media Group (an MGM company).
Rev. Johnnie Moore is also a member of clergy. As a noted evangelical Christian leader he is best known for his consequential work at the intersection of faith and foreign policy in the Middle East. In 2020, he was named one of America’s ten most influential religious leaders, he is the President of The Congress of Christian Leaders, serves on ADL’s “task force for Middle East minorities,” and is the youngest-ever recipient of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s prestigious “medal of valor” for his efforts rescuing Christians from ISIS in 2015. He is also a Commissioner on the bipartisan U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, appointed by the President of the United States.
