The Exhibit Enhancement Project will focus on three key areas at Roanoke Island Festival Park.

• The creation of an outdoor, interactive Native American Village and Cultural Educational Center.
• The re-design of the Park’s Visitor Center and placement of site-wide orientation and educational signage and statuary.
• The expansion of exhibits and activity stations in the Roanoke Adventure Museum.

All project components will be based on the latest scholarship and will feature hands-on, interactive and experience-based exhibits and programs that will provide fun learning opportunities for families and visitors of all ages. The re-design of the Visitor Center and signage enhancements, some of which will utilize new technologies, will provide increased orientation opportunities for all Park guests and will extend the interactive, educational experience for all visitors into new areas throughout the Park.

Planning for The Exhibit Enhancement Project began in 2005 when the Roanoke Island Commission embarked upon a year-long strategic planning initiative, a process that included close to one-hundred community-based stakeholder interviews. Important goals established through this process focused on the Commission’s desire to expand the scope and diversity of the educational offerings at Roanoke Island Festival Park and to more fully tell the internationally significant story of the first English settlements in North America which occurred on Roanoke Island between 1584 and 1587. Stroh continues, “What excites me most about this project is that when finished, the Native American Village and Cultural Educational Center will allow us to more effectively teach our guests about the Native Americans who first greeted the English when they arrived in 1584. Of particular importance, an essential component of this interactive interpretative area will stress the continuing vibrancy and vitality of the Native American community in North Carolina today.”

Additional feedback for the development of The Exhibit Enhancement Project was derived from a comprehensive guest survey and performance evaluation that was conducted at Roanoke Island Festival Park throughout 2006. Comments Stroh, “Building on our past successes and having learned a tremendous amount about the needs and interests of our community, this project will increase our ability to inspire dialogue about our history, stimulate an understanding of diverse cultures, and provide meaningful opportunities for family-based interaction.”

The Commission’s preliminary timeline for the implementation of The Exhibit Enhancement Project includes the opening of certain project components in 2007. These openings would be in conjunction with a number of new programs at the Park designed to highlight Roanoke Island’s distinction as the site of the first English settlement in North America. Stroh concludes, “The Roanoke Island story is an international as well as an American story of tremendous significance. Although short-lived, the settlements on Roanoke Island set the stage for the later English colony at Jamestown and were the setting for a number of important ‘firsts’ in American history.”

The mission of Roanoke Island Festival Park is to involve residents and visitors, of all ages, in a creative and stimulating exploration of Roanoke Island’s historical, cultural and natural resources. Roanoke Island Festival Park is part of the Division of Historic Sites, within the Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture.

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