@$:[AT]bylinefrank:By Peter Backeberg[AT]bodyfrank:Once a critical weigh station for goods bound to and from the Confederate States during the United State's Civil War, Queen's Warehouse on Penno's Wharf in St. George's has resumed its prominent position in Bermuda's history as the new home to the World Heritage Centre. The building has been transformed into an interactive and multipurpose museum illuminating Bermuda's rich history for both visitors and locals alike.Rosemary Jones and Paul Shapiro of Brimstone Media Ltd. were charged with designing and implementing the exhibits for the Centre and having been working closely with the St. George's Foundation for over two years to meet the historically driven deadline of Bermuda's 400th year celebrations.They have also been busy working on the exhibits for the freshly renovated Deliverance, including a life size animatronic figure of William Strachey telling the tale of survival and 'deliverance'.And while the project has been "a lot of work", both Ms Jones and Mr. Shapiro acknowledge that it has been an exciting process that they hope leaves Bermuda richer for the effort."It's been a great project to work on," reveals Ms Jones. "The Foundation has been very supportive and enthusiastic about our ideas and had ideas of their own, so it's been a great team effort overall."Brimstone were essentially handed a blank canvas in the form of a "big empty building" in which they needed to tell the story of Bermuda. Ironically that story begins, to all intents and purposes, with the arrival of a ship in 1609 and today the Centre sits literally at the bottom of the gangplank of cruise ships visiting St. George's.So the Centre has taken its place as an obvious and accessible introductory tour of the Island, and, indeed, its interior design includes a visitor information desk in the entrance."The mission of the Centre is not really to be a museum in and of itself," reveals Mr. Shapiro. "Rather it is designed to serve as a 'taster' that sends people out into the town to see the real thing. And it is not just for St. George's but for Bermuda as a whole."And the museum is not just for visitors. In fact, one of the main challenges for Brimstone was creating an exhibition that also served the Island's residents, in particular its young people, as a cultural and educational facility."We have found that there is a strong interest in Bermuda's history by Bermudians," says Ms Jones. "And it's growing."Brimstone have been working on museum exhibits inBermuda for over 15 years, including the exhibits at the Commissioner's House in Dockyard. They say the World Heritage Centre is a logical extension of this work and has allowed them to implement the latest in museum techniques and technology."People are coming to expect a lot more from museums," points out Mr. Shapiro. "We are trying to keep Bermuda up-to-date so when people come here they have a positive experience.""They (museums) have become much more about entertainment," adds Ms Jones. "If you can learn something and have fun doing it, that's the ultimate."To that end the World Heritage Centre installations include five digital touch screens through which visitors can "drill down" into thirty to forty pages of information on subjects including history, architecture and important people and events. There are also three video screens on which local actors have portrayed characters from various stages of Bermuda's history."They're composite characters based on people typical of those times." explains Ms Jones.The characters include: a teen-age boy from the 1600s who was born in Bermuda to some of the original settlers; A slave from the 1800s who is hired out by his master to work in the booming maritime industry; and a young woman from St. David's living through the construction of the US naval bases during World War II.The Centre also includes a more traditional exhibit in the "Gateway to Bermuda" Orientation Gallery where people can get an overview of Bermuda's history through audio presentations, display boards, life size models of whalers in action and a surprisingly engaging model of very early St. George's."That model is very popular," admits Mr. Shapiro. "It's very close to what the archeologists and experts hold us it would have been like. For instance the town had typical row housing and there were a number of brackish water wells. There was also an inlet where King's Square now sits meaning that Water Street originally ran along the waterfront."We designed the model down to the smallest detail and then had the fabricators in the States (US) build it," explains Mr. Shapiro.Another prevalent point of interest that Brimstone has focused on throughout the Centre is the unique and important relationship between Bermuda's history and that of the United States, starting with Jamestown Virginia and including Bermuda's role in both the War of Independence and the Civil War. This history is not only relevant to our visitors but in placing St. George's, and Bermuda, in context with the development of the "New World"."The designation of a World Heritage Site by UNESCO is an extremely significant one and we have been sure to highlight why St. George's (and its surrounding fortifications) are so special," explains Ms Jones.Of course the project was not without challenges, some of which Brimstone have experienced before."We were working in an old warehouse that was obviously not designed to be a museum," points out Ms Jones. "Bermuda has very few dedicated spaces built for exhibition. The Commissioner's House is another good example, that was a stately home."For the World Heritage Centre we had to sit down and plan out exactly what we could get into the space."The design team also needed to consider what other events may happen in the space and have, in fact, included large display cabinets that can be easily changed to present new or temporary exhibits and be rolled out of the way in the case of a large event taking place in the Centre."The cabinets just give them an extra bit of freedom to use the space in different ways," says Ms Jones.Brimstone Media have used their past experiences and the advent of new technology to create an exhibition that literally fits into our history. It accommodates the size and restrictions of the facility, meets the needs of a variety of potential audiences and serves Bermudians as a showcase of our history."Cultural Tourism is one of the ways forward," surmises Ms Jones. "It serves not only tourists but the community as well, teaching about its own heritage. It's nice to be part of that."Brimstone Media Ltd worked closely with Dr. Edward Harris, Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum and Dr. Marley Brown, a professor in the Department of Anthropology, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, who acted as historical consultants for the World Heritage Centre project.