After construction of the $124-million First Americans Museum was put on hold because of a funding reallocation, the project team developed a strategy for constructing the museum in phases to see the project to completion.

The initial construction contract was awarded to Centennial Builders in 2005 as an initiative of the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority the state of Oklahoma created in 1994 to build a cultural center and museum. Construction began in spring 2006, but after the federal government reallocated some of the project’s funding toward emergency efforts for Hurricane Katrina, the original construction schedule was no longer feasible.

Photo by Chris Pribil

The state ultimately supplied intermittent funding, resulting in more than a dozen construction phases over the next 15 years. With a seven-year gap between the end of the first phase and the start of the final phase, the project team had to modify designs to accommodate new code requirements and tech updates. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team collaborated through virtual design reviews and site walks. 

Photo by Dominique Harris, Manhattan Construction

The team completed the 125,000-sq-ft museum in April 2021. It features a 90-ft-tall earth mound, gallery spaces, museum store, restaurant, theater, meeting and administration spaces, classrooms, courtyards and a 110-ft-tall glass dome named Hall of the People, which will accommodate up to 300 guests for receptions, banquets, dinners and performances. The design and location of the structure includes attractive alignments for the summer and winter solstices, which create a relational tie between the natural and built environment.

Photo courtesy of Hornbeek Blatt