News

Every February, the United States and Canada commemorate Black History Month to honor the legacy of people of African descent, past and present. At Lord Cultural Resources, we honor these legacies every day. Just recently, the firm has been commissioned to complete a Strategic Feasibility Study for the conversion of the apartment and building where Civil Rights leader, Rosa Parks, once resided. From 1951-1957, Mrs. Parks resided at 632 Cleveland Court, a public housing community and during that time, played a pivotal role in the historically significant bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. To appropriately commemorate and honor Mrs. Parks, the Montgomery Housing Authority, is exploring the creation of a museum or other suitable alternative use for the building.

Simultaneously, our firm is working with museum and heritage staff to commemorate the stories of people of African descent at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC; the National Urban League in New York; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York; Black Loyalist Heritage Society and Africville in Nova Scotia.

Lord Cultural Resources has worked on a team led by Sasaki & Associates to develop a Master Plan for Fort Monroe, a recently decommissioned Army base on a site with 400 years of historical significance, just outside Hampton, Virginia. We have been developing a cultural strategy as part of the Fort Monroe master plan. The outgoing governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, has just signed the approval of the plan.

Read the news story here.

Lordculture participated in MAPIC, the International Market for Retail Real Estate conference, on November 14, 2013 in Cannes, France. The event gathered thousands of retailers, investors, city representatives and developers.

Gail Lord, Co-President, was Guest Speaker at the 39th Annual Heritage Toronto Awards & William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture at the Koerner Hall, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, on October 15, 2013. Gail spoke about Building Heritage with Innovation.

Congratulations to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) who will open its doors to the world on September 20, 2014! The CMHR is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration and future of human rights. It is the first national museum in Canada to be built outside the National Capital Region. Lord Cultural Resources has been involved in this project from the early stages and we are thrilled about the announcement. Read the press release in English and French.

Barry Lord, Co-President, has been interviewed by Phil Brown, The Courier-Mail newspaper in Australia. Our firm is working in Brisbane together with Cox Rayner Architects and urban planners Urbis to develop the Cultural Precinct Master Plan, a 20 year vision statement for South Bank area. Read the online article entitled "Cultural expert Barry Lord says South Bank needs children's art gallery or museum".

Barry Lord, Co-President, won "Best Paper Award" for his research paper entitled Energy and Cultural Heritage: How Values Change from SCHeMa 2013: International Conference on Sustainable Cultural Heritage Management at the RomaTre University in Rome, Italy on October 11-12, 2013. The Scientific Committee presented Barry with the Award in recognition of the research paper quality, originality and significance in Cultural Heritage Management.

Over 140 architects were considered for the architectural competition to design Nobel Center at Blasieholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Congratulations to the City of Chicago and Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs (DCASE)! One year ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched the city's first Cultural Plan in over 25 years and the impact of the Plan, facilitated by Lord Cultural Resources and led by DCASE, on everyday Chicagoans has been unprecedented. Over half of the plan's 241 initiatives have been implemented, transforming major global events like the city's Taste of Chicago and attracting and leveraging support from major corporations and city agencies to strengthen neighborhood cultural access. This month Mayor Emanuel announced that the plan would receive a proposed $1.25 million in the City's 2014 budget.

Read related media articles City To Spend $1 Million On Great Chicago Fire Festival and $1M set aside for festival dedicated to Great Chicago Fire.

The newly constructed museum at the Buddha Smriti Park was inaugurated on September 13, 2013 in Bihar, India. This is probably the only museum on Buddhism, which tells the story of Buddha along with the art that Buddhism created.

It was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, and the Chief Guest of the event was the Princess of Bhutan, Princess Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuk. It was inaugurated on the event of the International Buddhist Conclave, and had Buddhist experts and monks attending from 39 countries. Congratulations to our Lord Cultural Resources project team who made it happen.