Please Touch Museum

Project: Please Touch Museum

Location: Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Type of Work: Renovation and Restoration

Completion Date: October 18, 2008

Cost: $88 million

Size: 157,000 square feet

Exhibit Designer: Design + Communications

NorthStar Museums’ Role: Project Manager and Owner’s Representative

Description

NorthStar intervened in one of the largest and most expensive museum renovations after complications left Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum – one of the most popular children’s museums in the United States – and its original contractors unable to finish a major relocation and restoration process. Acting as Project Manager and Owner’s Representative, NorthStar reviewed 45 potential sites before settling on Memorial Hall, a Nationally Registered Historic Site, for its accessibility, visibility and sustainability. The $88 million, 11-year project involved moving the museum and its exhibits from a 38,000 square-foot facility to the 157,000 square-foot Memorial Hall. The project also included the design and construction of a 9,000 square-foot glass and steel addition, housing a 100-year-old carousel with over 50 elaborately hand-carved animals. Today, Please Touch Museum is synonymous with a family-friendly, hands-on experience where learning is fun.

Please Touch Museum is currently ranked as one of the top ten tourist destinations in Philadelphia, welcoming more than half a million visitors every year. It has become the hallmark of NorthStar Advisors' portfolio and garnered the company numerous awards and accolades both locally and nationally, including:

  • Best Real Estate Deal, Judges Award 2008
  • Best Executed Construction Project Award 2008
  • Building Design & Construction’s Reconstruction & Renovation Awards 2009
  • March of Dimes Project of the Year Awards 2009
  • Mid-Atlantic Construction, Cultural Project of the Year 2009
  • National Preservation Honor Awards 2009
  • Preservation Alliance Achievement Awards 2009
  • Preservation Pennsylvania Construction Awards 2009
  • Project Management Institute DPG-SIG Awards 2009
  • Themed Entertainment Associations Outstanding Achievement Award 2009
  • Victorian Society Award 2010

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