Construction firm W.M. Jordan Co. recently won the contract, worth $11.9 million, to build the new additions, of which The Potomac Group is leading the architectural design. Renovations to the 36-year old facility will include a 62,000-sf addition to the original building, a $400,000 aviary, a 3,000 ft-long boardwalk, a two-level Cypress Swamp and a 30,000-gallon ocean aquarium, and a new observation zone. The increase in space covers exhibit room as well as class space.

The city has expanded the museum several times since it opened in 1966. The two-story museum sits on a 74-acre plot and city records show the property's most recently assessed value to be approximately $3.5 million. "It's been an important institution in the city for many years," Newport News assistant city manager Neil Morgan tells GlobeSt.com. "And it is one of several institutions in mid-city Newport News that is undergoing renovation, and taken together they represent a transformation for this part of the city."

Morgan notes that the museum has a major educational outreach component that has been serving the area for years. "The project is one of the things about which a city officer can have nothing but glowing things to say," Morgan adds. Donors have contributed $14 million for the project and the state gave $750,000 to the endeavor four years ago when museum officials first began their capital campaign.