Winchester, Va. — The Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum just installed one of the coolest exhibits in its 30-year history: a Bell 430 helicopter.
The aircraft will soon become the centerpiece of a new rooftop exhibit overlooking Old Town Winchester, which is expected to open to the public in mid-October. The exhibit will allow visitors to explore how helicopters are used for research, rescue missions and remote exploration.
Before being hoisted into position, the helicopter was transported across the USA from coast to coast, from San Juan Island, Washington, all the way to Winchester, Virginia.
“This new exhibit has been a couple of years in the making, and we are thrilled,” said Dawn Devine, Executive Director.
This installation is just the latest project in a partnership that has continued since the building opened.
In 2014, the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum moved into a dramatically expanded home in downtown Winchester, transforming a former furniture store into a three-story, interactive children’s museum. Reader & Swartz Architects led the design, with Howard Shockey & Sons serving as general contractor and providing preconstruction services. The project encompassed approximately 19,000 square feet of renovation and new construction, more than tripling the museum’s previous space.
The design was conceived around hands-on learning and exploration, incorporating a variety of flexible exhibit and educational spaces along with classrooms, a climbing wall, gardens, a paleontology area, an apple-packing shed and exhibits focused on the movement of water.
A particularly distinctive feature is the rooftop Sky Level, reached by elevator and designed as an extension of the museum experience, with gardens, a pavilion, shade tree and observation deck overlooking the region. This roof area is the new home for the helicopter exhibit.
The museum’s design and construction has been recognized with several awards, including an AIA Virginia Honorable Mention for Excellence in Architecture, an AIA Northern Virginia Jurors’ Special Citation in Institutional Architecture, and Remodeling Magazine’s Grand Prize for Commercial Remodeling.
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