Architecture Commons^™

The Visitor Experience: Reimagining The 21st Century Visitor, Christina Coleman

Historic Preservation Theses

This thesis explores a challenge that living history museums currently face of being tied to a specific time and place but needing to attract and interact with changing 21st century visitors. One way that museums combat this challenge is through an engaging visitor experience. To explore this issue, Old Sturbridge Village is used as a case study. It is a living history museum, depicting the 1830s, that is located in central Massachusetts. OSV was founded in 1946. The research is coupled with literature on museum visitor experiences. This mixed methods study utilizes interviews of employees at the museum, participant observation …

Values Enhanced Design Guidelines: Balancing Expert Knowledge With Community Values When Regulating New Construction In Historic Districts, Corey B. Pacheco

Historic Preservation Theses

Research Question: This thesis intends to answer if non-professional stakeholder meanings can assess what is appropriate for new construction in historic districts, and whether those meanings coincide with the goals of the design review guidelines for Falmouth’s historic districts.

Results: The meanings extrapolated from the non-professional Informants interviews, suggest new construction should be compatible with the surrounding streetscape, as suggested in the Falmouth’s design review guidelines

Practical Implications: The study highlights that stakeholders with little or no background in the process of historic preservation design review can carefully understand and verbalize design criteria; and in addition, make decisions that are …