The Deborah Clark Mars Education Center at Fort Ticonderoga

Community Reception at the
Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center

The Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center is the culmination of the visionary lead gift of Forrest E. and Deborah C. Mars, Jr. with the support of many generous donors. It has enabled the museum to create a modern facility inside the walls of the Fort to serve as the home of the museum’s educational programming. Their gift has allowed Fort Ticonderoga to bring back to life the magasin du Roi (King’s Warehouse) a structure that was destroyed by the French army as it was abandoning its strategic stronghold at the south end of Lake Champlain. As the Fort begins its second century as a museum, the reconstruction of this building completes the restoration project begun in 1909 by the museum’s founders Stephen H.P and Sarah G.T. Pell.

Restoration of the magasin du Roi is the most ambitious reconstruction project undertaken at Fort Ticonderoga in more than 60 years. The project gave the museum a unique opportunity to study in detail an aspect of the Fort’s history that had never before been deeply examined. Several years of intensive architectural and archival research in the United States, Canada and Europe yielded new information on the use and appearance of the structure. Amazingly, in our research we were able to locate an inventory of the contents of the building drafted in 1757. The inventory revealed that the building was used to hold a variety of goods from bread baking supplies to clothing and shoes, as well as ammunition and goods used to forge alliances with Native American.

Extensive archeological investigation of the remains of the building and its associated fortification features revealed much information about the building that the archival records remained silent about. To our amazement, there were traces of the original wooden floor system uncovered in the basement level of the building. Artifacts such as musket and grape shot found below the remains of the floor offer a glimpse into how some of the rooms in the building were used and provides a rare tangible link between the building’s written and archeological records.

The exterior of the building was designed to be as accurately reconstructed as possible with the information we have today. It does, however, differ markedly from the two existing reconstructed barracks buildings. The magasin du Roi has a much more regular texture to its masonry as is seen in other areas of original French masonry still existing around the Fort. The roof constructed of wooden shingles as described in contemporary records rather than red clay tile as seen on the other buildings. (The red clay tile roof of the barracks was probably a modification to the structures undertaken by the British garrisons of the early 1760’s.) In addition the shutters and doors of the magasin du Roi are painted red as was the case with woodwork found on most French military structures in the mid 18th century.

While the exterior of the building strives to be an accurate recreation of the appearance of the building as constructed over 250 years ago, the interior spaces are all modern to support the diverse array of educational programs offered within. The 15,200 square foot facility houses two spacious education rooms and a climate controlled exhibition space for regularly changing exhibits. The space below the Fort’s southeast bastion was also renovated to serve as a large “great room” to host seminars, conferences, concerts and a multitude of large gatherings and events. The building is equipped with a state-of-the-art geo-thermal heating and cooling system designed to provide a comfortable environment inside the building year round. The building was reconstructed from stone quarried locally and utilized local labor force to build the structure. The Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center is slated to achieve a silver LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The facility is also houses restrooms and is equipped with an elevator to provide handicapped accessibility to upper viewing areas of the Fort and second floor exhibits in the Soldiers’ and Officers’ Barracks

Reconstructing the magasin du Roi inside the walls of the Fort was no easy task. It took a collection of workers with unique talents and dedication to preservation of historic resources and attention to detail. The project team assembled for the task included:

Architects: Tonetti Associates Architects, TonettiAA.com New York, New York
Structural Engineers: Ryan-Biggs Associates, Troy, New York
Civil Engineers: Schoder-Rivers Associates, Lake George, New York
MEP Engineers: Altieri Sebor Wieber, Norwalk, Connecticut
Archeology: Hartgen Archeological Associates, Rensselaer, New York
Masonry Conservation: Jablonsky-Berkowitz Conservation, New York, New York
Construction Manager: Breadloaf Construction, Middlebury, Vermont