Beginning of Construction marked with a Celebration Annapolis (June 4, 2004) - County Executive Janet S. Owens and the London Town Foundation today hosted a groundbreaking celebration for the new London Town Visitor Center and Museum. Joining Ms. Owens and Foundation members at the ceremony were local, State and Federal officials, all of whom partnered with Anne Arundel County to bring this project forward "The visitor's center will now give us a place to show the history of our country and colonial life in Maryland," said County Executive Janet S. Owens. " In these fiscal times, it's amazing to be able to get this done. I am grateful for the partnership between the Federal, State and County governments and the London Town Foundation-everyone has been supportive of this." The new Visitor Center and Museum will house an orientation center for visitors, a museum featuring London Town's role in colonial transportation history, an education classroom, and the Anne Arundel County archaeology lab. The Center, which will serve as a centerpiece to the Lost Town, will enhance Historic London Town and Gardens as a heritage tourism destination in the region. The Center is a key component of Four Rivers: The Heritage Area of Annapolis, London Town, and South County. The site, which is also an officially designated site in the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network, is expected to give visitors in Annapolis another opportunity to learn about Colonial Maryland. "This is a wonderful day for the Foundation and Anne Arundel County -knowing that this long-awaited facility is underway," said Donna Ware, Executive Director, London Town Foundation. Both a tourism and learning center, we hope that London Town will be enjoyed by Anne Arundel County residents and visitors from around the world for generations to come." Exhibit space at the Center will showcase London Town's prominent role in the region's transportation history - as Maryland's most important colonial tobacco port and as a commercial hub and ferry crossing on the major north -south road system in colonial America. Lying within the Critical Area, the 12,000 sq. ft. facility will feature many state of the art environmental elements, including the innovative adaptive reuse of an abandoned wastewater treatment plant and a "living" or green roof. The project was funded by Anne Arundel County in the amount of $2 million; the Maryland Department of Transportation in the amount of $2.6 million in Transportation Enhancement Funds; and the State of Maryland in the amount of a $750,000 Bond Bill.
The Visitors Center and Museum, which will cost $5.1 million, was designed by Cho Benn Holback and Associates, Inc. of Baltimore and won the 2001 AIA Baltimore Design Award - a prestigious award, which is rarely given for an unbuilt structure. The construction contractor is the James F. Knott Construction Company of Timonium. The project is expected to be completed in August, 2005. | 
