Pratt Museum Site Plan

Project Date: 2002
Project Manager: Chris Beck
Clients: Pratt Museum, Patrons of the Pratt Society
Location: Homer

The Pratt Museum is an excellent regional museum, dedicated to sharing stories about the cultural and natural history of the Kachemak Bay region. The museum hired Chris Beck and sub-consultant Land Design North to prepare a site development program and physical plan for the Museum's 25 acre site.

The museum had acquired several parcels surrounding the original museum site and was exploring the possibility of internal changes to the museum. These changes provided the chance to expand the scope and quality of the museum experience, and the opportunity to increase community support and visits by travelers.

The consultants conducted a series of workshops with museum staff, and members of the support organization Patrons of the Pratt Society that had acquired the land. Following the workshops, the team created a site development program and physical plan that emphasized the following:

• Site Development Program: Facilities, Exhibits & Activities Elements of the site plan included whale skeletons, sculpture, a shop, trails, a cabin, a café and office, a botanical/herb garden, the homesteader experience, natural history interpretation, wooden boats and a place to build them, and trash and service areas. Ultimately, the goal of the site program was to ensure that the experience "outside the museum door" is a powerful, integral dimension of what visitors experience inside the facility.
• Natural Setting For The Museum: The site plan included strategies to emphasize the natural wooded setting of the museum such as artful clearing of vegetation to open up views, rethinking the "entry experience," and reconfiguring parking.
• Creek: The site plan resurrected a creek that is currently buried below the parking lot, to create a more positive feature for the site.
• Circulation and Parking: An alternative circulation pattern was recommended to improve circulation and develop pedestrian links to Homer's central business district.
• Visibility: A central goal of the site plan was to give the museum a stronger presence for people driving or walking.