BRC Imagination Arts To Redesign Visitor Experiences and Louisiana and Virginia State Capitols

release date: September 25, 2006

Award-Winning Visitor Experience Designers to Apply “Showmanship Meets Scholarship™” Approach to Two of the Country’s Most Historical Cities

BURBANK, CA – In yet another example of the rapidly-rising national trend to redesign cultural heritage sites across the U.S., BRC Imagination Arts, one of the world’s leading creators of truly engaging visitor experiences for museums, corporate visitor centers and cultural heritage attractions, has been selected to redesign the visitor experiences of the Virginia State Capitol and Louisiana’s Old State Capitol.

Considered two of the most historic state capitol destinations in American, Louisiana’s Old State Capitol and the Virginia State Capitol are first rate examples of sites that connect present generations to their rich, collective history, while linking historical figures and their ideals to the ideals of today. Each Capitol is being redesigned to further bring to life the buildings and their artifacts, as well as more fully use their contents to tell their States’ stories. In addition, each redesign is expected to attract more visitors and better support overall revenues and sustainability.

In 1845, legislators voted to move the capitol of Louisiana from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, so they would not be tempted by the many distractions of the Big Easy. Louisiana’s Old State Capitol was designed in 1847 by architect James Harrison Dakin in a distinctive Castellated Gothic style on a hill next to the Mississippi River. In 1862, Union soldiers, who were occupying the building, accidentally started a fire that gutted the interior of the building. The interior was rebuilt in 1879 and the building served as the State Capitol until 1932 when Huey Pierce Long realized his vision for a new "modern" State Capitol in the form of an Art Deco skyscraper. Long had a bad memory of the Old State Capitol, for it was the site of an unsuccessful attempt to impeach him in 1929. In 1975 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Virginia State Capitol, located in Richmond, houses the oldest legislative body in the United States: the Virginia General Assembly. Over 200 years old, the State Capitol’s architectural design is credited to Thomas Jefferson, who modeled the building after the Maison Carrée in southern France, and ancient Roman temples, in opposition to other local buildings that he felt reflected British tyranny. The first public building designed expressly for America’s new representative government, the Virginia Capitol also served as the Capitol of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

BRC Imagination Arts is participating in the multi-million dollar architectural restoration and expansion of the entire Virginia State Capitol, which will include a new immersive visitor experience celebrating the history of the Capitol, the notable people who have served there and the remarkable sense of civic duty that persists to this day. Highlights of the new visitor experience include the "Virginia Democracy Timeline," a living, interactive presentation of stories, events and personalities from revolutionary times to the present, and the "Keepers of the Flame," an immersive theater experience featuring a five screen, state-of-the-art digital projection commemorating Virginia’s unique heritage of democracy.

The two new projects reflect BRC’s success developing sustainable heritage attractions throughout the country, and around the world, using its Showmanship Meets Scholarship™ approach to experience design. BRC’s previous cultural heritage projects include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, the Ford Rouge Factory Tour, and the "Franklin Sprit" U. S. Pavilion for World Expo 2005, while projects in development include the redesign of the Empire State Building visitor experience, the Sears Tower visitor experience and the creation of the Liverpool Museum in the United Kingdom.

"Given that attractions like these are competing with everything from 12 screen movie theater multiplexes to theme parks, it’s critical that such heritage sites provide a compelling experience that makes a lasting impression on visitors of every age," said Bob Rogers, CEO and founder of BRC Imagination Arts. "In order to preserve our heritage and learn from our history, we need to present the material in rich, immersive environments, so that visitors can experience history instead of passively viewing artifacts in glass display cases. We and our clients have had great success applying Experience Design to heritage attractions, and we applaud the overseers of the Louisiana Capitol and the Virginia State Capitol for embracing this 21st-century approach."

About BRC Imagination Art

Founded in 1981, BRC Imagination Arts is the leader in the design, creation and production of innovative and immersive experience-based attractions for museums, experiential marketing, theme parks and cultural heritage sites worldwide.

BRC projects have consistently exceeded the expectations of clients and visitors, and have a proven track record of economic sustainability and the industry’s best record for on time, on budget performance. Clients include Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, NASA, Disney, Warner Brothers and Universal Studios. With offices in California, Amsterdam and the United Kingdom, BRC has been honored with over 250 international awards for creative excellence including two Academy Award nominations and 11 THEA Awards for Outstanding Achievement in themed entertainment. The company is currently engaged in major projects in the U.S., China, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, and Sweden.

# # #

Media Contact: Kristen Collins, KMC Partners, 617-758-4193, kristen@kmcpartners.com