Museum of the Rockies Design Overview

In May 1995 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District (COE) and the Museum of the Rockies (MOR), Montana State University (MSU), entered into a cooperative agreement for the purpose of designing a prototype curation collections center for the in perpetuity conservation, processing, care, and housing of Federal archaeological, historical, paleontological, and biological collections. The cooperative agreement was developed under the authority of the FY94 Defense Appropriations Act, P.L. 103139, Title II, Nov. 11, 1993, 107 Stat. 1422 which provides authority for the Department of Defense to enter into cooperative agreements with public agencies and institutions to implement the purposes of the Legacy Resources Management Program.

In early September 1995, the St. Louis District Corps of Engineers engaged the firm of PGAV Inc. (Peckham, Guyton, Albers, & Viets, Inc.) to work with the St. Louis District Mandatory Center of Expertise (SLD MCX) to design a prototype archaeological curation/collections center consistent with the purpose and goals expressed in the cooperative agreement. The prototype facility is planned in such a manner that it can also be proposed for construction in the city of Bozeman, Montana, on the campus of Montana State University and immediately adjacent to and physically connected with the Museum of the Rockies building. As design agent for the project, PGAV, Inc. was tasked with responding to the needs for a prototype facility which is compatible with the site specific requirements of the Bozeman location, the grounds of the MSU campus, and the architectural themes expressed in the existing Museum of The Rockies facility. These parameters presented unique challenges to the design team at PGAV, Inc. and their consultants.