long range planning

Pieces of a Puzzle

Billy Rankin

Billy Rankin, Vice President of Public Programming and Marketing

This is the second in an ongoing series of articles outlining long-range planning at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

Diving into the Details

In our last article, we described the process of building a new long-range plan for Shaker Village. Steps in this process included a review of our nonprofit’s mission, visits to other cultural sites for inspiration, an examination of property usage data and current conditions, and interviews with architects, designers and engineers.

You may be thinking, that’s nice, but what are you actually planning to do?

Good question! It’s time to dive into the project list that makes up the bulk of Shaker Village’s Long-Range Plan.

First Reflections

Before introducing you to Shaker Village’s ten-year project list, a few notes and reminders are required!

  1. Bring an open mind. Our plans for Shaker Village are bold, but our commitment to preserving the integrity of the property, and its remarkable history, remains strong.
  2. It won’t be done overnight. This is a long-range plan. In many cases the projects we have outlined may be ambitious for even a ten-year timeframe
  3. No project stands alone. To preserve Shaker Village and make it sustainable for future generations, a multi-faceted and integrated plan is required. Each of these projects, alone, may be important, but to understand the full impact these pieces of a larger puzzle must be viewed together.
  4. Preservation comes first. There are three categories for the projects on our ten-year list: Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, and New Construction. The staff and board of Shaker Village are united in the belief that the preservation of our historic structures and landscape is of the utmost importance, and everything else we do must support those efforts, not detract from them. To that end, new construction has only been considered where the return on investment will enhance the Village, and using Shaker structures would be unsuitable or inappropriate as a solution.

The Project List

In the coming weeks and months, more details will be shared about each project listed below. Some are major projects, some are minor, but all fit into the tapestry that is the future vision for Shaker Village. In addition to the list below, the preservation of every historic structure on the property will be ongoing.

  • 1850 West Lot Wash House – Preservation, add overnight suite to the 2nd floor, preserve 1st floor for archaeological interpretation.
  • 1816 North Lot Dwelling – Preservation, convert space to “bunk style” overnight lodging with full kitchen and laundry.
  • 1839 Trustees’ Office – Construct an extension on the back of the building to encompass new and expanded kitchens, storage and office spaces. Remove kitchens from the building’s cellar to create a new, accessible venue for guests. Add a walk-up bar and grill and restrooms to the exterior of the new construction, facing the garden lawn. Replace HVAC systems for Trustees’ and surrounding buildings.
This site plan is for a children’s playscape that will be constructed along the south edge of the garden area, and was developed in partnership with the Children at Play Network.
  • Children’s Playscape – Create an “intentional landscape for children” along the south edge of the vegetable garden so children can climb and play near the heart of the Village.
  • Shaker Landing – Add a canoe/kayak launch, expand the dock system on the Kentucky River, purchase and operate a new touring boat, outfit the 1866 Timber Frame Stable for events and receptions. Add a parking area off Hwy 68 along the Village’s River Road to shuttle guests to and from events at the landing.
  • Nature Center – Construct a nature center along the West Lot Road, near the Centre Trailhead, to host hikers, field trips, receptions and environmental research.
  • Relocate West Trailhead – Move trailhead and kiosk to the large parking lot behind the West Lot Dwelling, build a connector trail from this location, add restrooms at new trailhead.
  • Rebuild sections of trail system that have had washouts, and continue efforts to prevent erosion, provide drainage and reinforce all trails.
The Believers is a permanent exhibit set to open on the second floor of the 1820 Meeting House in fall 2023. One room of the exhibition will explore the architecture and construction of the Meeting House.
  • Complete all the exhibit plans for the 1824 Centre Family Dwelling, 1820 Meeting House, 1809 Farm Deacon’s Shop, 1847 Cooper’s Shop and 1835 East Family Wash House.
  • 1824 Centre Family Dwelling – Convert 3rd floor bedrooms (currently storage) into additional staff offices.
  • 1821 Ministry’s Offices – Convert from staff offices to overnight lodging.
  • 1821 West Family Dwelling – Remodel the facilities in the “Winter Kitchen.” Construct a ramp to create an accessible entrance to 1st floor overnight rooms, remodel these four rooms to be ADA compliant.
  • 1820 Meeting House – Construct an accessible ramp to the first floor on the east end of the building.
  • East Family Area Sidewalk – Add an accessible sidewalk, parallel to the current historic sidewalk, connecting the Turnpike to the 1845 East Family Brethren’s Shop, 1847 Cooper’s Shop and loading zone behind the 1817 East Family Dwelling.
  • West Family Area – Replace current boiler/chiller HVAC system with a geothermal system.
  • 1855 East Family Sisters’ Shop – Convert 1st floor room that is currently storage to a new workshop space for public programs and field trips.
  • 1811 Old Stone Shop – Replace sitting room furniture and kitchen fixtures, upgrade overnight rooms.
  • Upgrade the meeting rooms in the 1828 West Lot Dwelling with new audio/visual components, furniture and sound buffering ceilings.
  • Meadow View Barn – Run water lines to the site, construct restroom facilities adjacent to the silo, hardscape and landscape around the barn to create additional outside seating for events, construct a permanent kitchen extension on the back of the barn.
  • Expand climate-controlled storage for Shaker artifacts, with new construction hidden inside a current agricultural barn.  
  • Greenhouse and Gardens – Replace current greenhouse and replot adjacent area to include both public programming space and secure storage.
  • Administrative Offices – Replace carpet, frame permanent offices in the basement and repaint interior.
  • Buildings & Grounds Department Shops – Expand storage space, add climate-controlled and ventilated room for painting and staining in cold-weather.
  • Resurface all current asphalt roads and parking lots.
  • Replace the bridge on the West Lot Road to have capacity for busses and trailers.
The dam on Shaker Pond had become overgrown, compromising its integrity and blocking a viewshed that had historically been open. As part of a greater, property-wide initiative, this area was cleared and the dam was rebuilt.
  • Clear and maintain historic viewsheds, removing woody invasives that are currently obscuring cultural elements like dry stacked stone fences, foundations and archaeological sites.
  • Additional Sitewide infrastructure upgrades to include: new fiber lines to all buildings with corresponding hardware and access points for increased Wi-Fi service; additional electrical service along West Lot Road, enhancements to current water treatment facility.

Where Do We Start?

Many of the “smaller” projects on this list are already underway, while the more intensive projects are still being planned. Our mantra has been: One job at a time, one success at a time. As stewards of this property, we want to leave it better for the next generation, which means we will be scrutinizing every detail of the projects as they progress.

Follow Our Progress

As projects develop, you can expect to hear more about the progress on social media, through emails and on the Shaker Village blog. We hope you follow along!

If you have questions about master site planning at Shaker Village, or if you would like to support our efforts, please reach out to our Vice President of Public Programming & Marketing, Billy Rankin at brankin@shakervillageky.org or 859.734.1574.

Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future

Billy Rankin

Creating a New Long-Range Plan for Shaker Village

Billy Rankin, Vice President of Public Programming and Marketing

For most visitors to Shaker Village, the typical conversation is framed in the “past tense.”
Who lived here? How were these buildings used? What did this look like in the 19th century? What did the Shakers believe?

As Kentucky’s largest National Historic Landmark, this makes perfect sense, of course. It has been over 200 years since Shaker missionaries first came to our state, and the rich and vibrant stories of Pleasant Hill’s rise, decline and restoration have attracted millions of visitors since our nonprofit opened the Village to the public in 1968.

There are a committed few, however, that have recently been framing their conversations about Shaker Village in the “future tense.” With these conversations come a very different set of questions.
How will we use this building? What will happen in this space? What infrastructure is needed to support higher visitation? What will our guests need, that we don’t already provide? How do we ensure Shaker Village will be healthy for generations to come?

After 55 years of sharing Pleasant Hill with the public, Shaker Village is creating a new Long-Range Plan.

Building on Success

So, what has prompted this new planning process, and what are the intended outcomes?

Over the last decade, Shaker Village has tackled a number of major challenges and celebrated many successes. We have made great strides in historic preservation, exhibit installation, care of the grounds, upgrades to infrastructure, growth of our endowment and increases in annual visitation, passholders and individual donors. There is still much to be done to preserve and care for the buildings and property at Pleasant Hill, but we have turned an important corner. Our successes have built momentum, and with this momentum comes the opportunity for continued growth.

Shaker Village staff meet with representatives from Bernheim Forest to discuss initiatives to increase youth engagement at the Village.

In late 2021, the Shaker Village Board of Trustees, recognizing this pivotal moment in our nonprofit’s history, created a Long-Range Planning Committee (LRPC) and commissioned it with developing a new Master Site Plan for the property.  The committee, chaired by Centre College President Emeritus Dr. John Roush, is comprised of a select group of architects, preservationists and business people from the Board of Trustees, joined by members of the Village’s Senior Leadership staff.

Doing Our Homework

The LRPC wasted no time getting started with their assignment. In the last 18 months this committee has conducted studies of Shaker Village’s operations and identified key challenges and opportunities.

Shaker Village Curator Becky Soules speaks with an interpreter during a site visit to Colonial Williamsburg.

Members of the LRPC have made site visits to nearly 20 other cultural sites to draw comparisons and learn from shared experiences. These visits, to organizations including Colonial Williamsburg, Conner Prairie, Bernheim Forest, Yew Dell Gardens, and the Kentucky Historical Society, have inspired the team at Shaker Village not only through learning of successes, but by also learning of mistakes made by each organization along the way. 

The LRPC also conducted a series of interviews with architects, landscape designers and master site planning specialists to prepare for the questions and inevitable hurdles Shaker Village will face when implementing its own Master Site Plan.

Staying on Mission

One bit of wisdom the LRPC has taken from their study has been: “just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should do something.” Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is an incredibly special place, and always has been. As our team works to enhance guest experiences, grow visitation and increase accessibility, it is incredibly important that nothing we do detracts from what the Village already is.

Shaker village staff and board members visited many other cultural sites over the last 18 months, including Conner Prairie in Indiana.

This perfect balance of preservation and hospitality is where the magic of Shaker Village is found.

To guide our team’s efforts, every idea and concept is run through a series of “strategy screen questions” and ultimately viewed through the lens of our mission, to inspire generations of guests through discovery, by sharing the legacies of the Kentucky Shakers.

As our team examines needs for additional overnight rooms, kitchen space, programming areas and more, coming back to our strategy screen and mission ensures that future projects are in line with the spirit and identity of Shaker Village, and only augment the overall experience of the site.

What Comes Next?

In the coming months, the LRPC will select and partner with a firm that specializes in master site planning for large, diverse properties. Together, they will refine a list of projects and initiatives that help to preserve the property, while enhancing guest experiences. At the end of this process, the leadership of Shaker Village will have drawings, site maps and other renderings to share this vision for the future to the public.

According to Dr. Roush, “Shaker Village is going to be here, as an organization and as an historic site, for a very long time. We are taking our time to plan for the long-term. Some tasks we discuss may be accomplished relatively soon, while others are years away, but the important thing is that we have a thoughtful plan that provides a playbook for the success and longevity of this incredibly unique place.”

Follow Our Progress

As plans develop, you can expect to hear more about the progress on social media, through emails and on the Shaker Village blog. We hope you follow along!

If you have questions about master site planning at Shaker Village, please reach out to our Vice President of Public Programming & Marketing, Billy Rankin at brankin@shakervillageky.org or 859.734.1574.