Get Ready for GulfQuest

Apr 9th, 2009

The National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico – now known as GulfQuest – joined the City of Mobile today to break ground on the museum’s building at Mobile Landing, the city’s downtown waterfront development. The building will be constructed and owned by the City of Mobile, while the interactive maritime museum inside will be planned, funded and operated by an independent, non-profit organization through a public/private partnership with the city.

The groundbreaking took the form of a maritime “keel laying” traditionally hosted to initiate construction of a new ship. Because the building is designed to resemble a ship, and since the museum’s focus is maritime, event organizers decided that a “keel laying” ceremony offered the best fit for the occasion.
Guest speakers including U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley,
Assistant Administrator of NOAA’s Ocean Service Jack Dunnigan, U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, County Commissioner Mike Dean, and City Council President Reggie Copeland performed the keel laying by electronically signing their names to a simulated steel plate which, at a typical keel laying, would be welded to the inside hull of the finished vessel. In this case, the plate will be rendered at a later date for display inside the entryway to the maritime museum.

Senator Shelby served as the keynote speaker at the groundbreaking ceremony, and
lauded GulfQuest as “an incredible landmark” for Mobile and the Gulf Coast. “The Gulf of Mexico is a national treasure,” Senator Shelby said. “It’s hard to believe that, until now, no museum has been created to celebrate the historical, economic and cultural significance of the Gulf of Mexico. We’re prepared to correct that with this project.”

In keeping with the City of Mobile’s plan to establish the downtown waterfront as a destination for Gulf Coast residents and visitors, GulfQuest will become the centerpiece of Mobile Landing, already home to the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center, Alabama’s only cruise ship terminal, and Cooper Riverside Park.

“GulfQuest is going to become a signature attraction for the City of Mobile,” Reggie Copeland, president of the Mobile City Council, said. “This will be a one-of-a-kind destination that does not exist in any other U.S. city on the Gulf of Mexico, offering an experience that will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mobile’s downtown waterfront every year.”

E. B. Peebles, chairman of the museum’s Board of Trustees, marked this “important milestone” by thanking everyone who has played a role in moving the project forward. “This maritime museum will be our proud legacy to future generations in Mobile, the State of Alabama and the Gulf Coast,” Peebles said.

Plans call for the museum building to be constructed over a two-year period, with a projected opening for GulfQuest in spring 2011. In December 2008, the City of Mobile hired Hoar Program Management, a division of Hoar Construction, LLC of Birmingham, Ala., to oversee construction of the building.
The Maritime Museum’s 90,000 sq. ft. structure is shaped like a ship headed into
Mobile Bay – a design that will establish the building as an architectural icon in downtown Mobile. Inside this structure, the museum’s exhibits will be housed inside the stern of a full-sized container ship, displayed as if dockside. The container ship will look like a real vessel – from its actual size to the water surrounding its hull – enticing visitors to explore the maritime world by stepping on board.

GulfQuest will be the first museum dedicated to presenting the maritime heritage and culture of the Gulf Coast, and only the third maritime museum in the world to primarily feature hands-on, interactive exhibits rather than maritime artifacts and memorabilia. World-class exhibits designers are planning the interactive exhibits: Lyons/Zaremba, designers of the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tenn., and the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque, Iowa; and Monadnock Media, award-winning producers of multi-media content for the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Traveling exhibitions will play an important role in broadening the visitor experience even further. Unlike the permanent exhibits, traveling exhibits will showcase primarily maritime artifacts, artwork and memorabilia. Hands-on components will be utilized to complement the displays. Potential traveling exhibitions include Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, Treasures of NOAA’s Ark, Pirates of the Gulf of Mexico, and Extreme Deep: Journey to the Abyss.

For more information, please contact GulfQuest, with temporary offices at the
International Trade Center (250 N. Water Street, Suite 131) in Mobile, at (251) 436-8901 or visit www.gulfquest.org.