On December 18, ObjectIDEA participated in the presentation of a completed Visitor Experience Plan for Coltsville National Historic Park. The plan, commissioned by the state of Connecticut, analyses the interpretive potential of the site, and offers a vision for the use of the remnant buildings that comprise the historic landscape of the Colt Firearms Manufactory known as Coltsville. The focus of the interpretive plan is on the processes pioneered by the Colt Company that honed the future of precision manufacturing in America, and the business ingenuity of Samuel and Elizabeth Colt in the realms of product promotion and international business.

The plan was presented from the lectern of the Church of the Good Shepherd, an 1869 High Victorian Gothic church, whose construction was commissioned by Mrs. Colt to serve the workers who resided in Coltsville.

CT Congressman John Larson opened and closed the presentation with inspirational remarks and enthusiastic endorsement. The presentation was broadcast on the state's public television channel.

Two projects – one in Boston, the other in Hartford – have recently provided me with very privileged and historic views.

The Old State House and Boston Massacre Site, Boston

In June, 2008, objectIDEA participated in a study with the Boston Historical Society to evaluate the visitors' experience at Boston's Old State House. The study paved the way for an interpretive planning exercise wherein recommendations were made to restructure the circulation of the visitors' experience in the building, and focus the institution's single, emblematic communication aim: This building, once a monument to English rule, is now a monument to American resistance.

As the interpretive plan took shape, so did the Old State House itself, as it was undergoing an extensive architectural restoration as well. Prior to the re-gilding of the dome, I was invited to climb the scaffolding and inspect the cupola and dome and, in doing so, was rewarded with a view of details (including Boston's first weathervane) and vistas that few people have seen in quite some time.

Coltsville National Historic Landmark, Hartford

In October, 2008, I was invited as part of a consultancy taskforce hired to evaluate Coltsville National Historic Landmark in Hartford, CT. The thrust of the effort was to evaluate the site's potential as a host for a visitor center and interpret the history of business ingenuity and precision manufacturing in a young America.

The Colt firearms complex, affectionately known as Coltsville, is marked by one of the most iconic buildings in all of Hartford: the grand East Armory with its gold, star-spangled, blue onion dome. A view from the dome reveals the spread of Coltsville and its relationship to the city and the Connecticut River. We hope to extend an invitation to the general public to appreciate and contemplate this view in the near future.