A year after releasing the first conceptual drawings of the new $106 million Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity in downtown Orlando, the museum board and architects are asking for official city approval for the project, which has been refined and redesigned to address increased security risks.

The design team, led by Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB), will go before the city’s Appearance Review Board in June seeking a major certificate of appearance approval for the 44,500-square-foot building slated for the 2.5-acre site at 75 S. Ivanhoe Blvd. in downtown’s North Quarter district, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

The former Chamber of Commerce building will be demolished to make way for the museum and civic space.

The white, curved building, which blends smooth and rippled concrete panels, takes its inspiration and reference from traditional Judaic items used in worship, such as a shofar and prayer shawl, known as a Tallit.

Kathy Turner, vice president of marketing and development for the museum, said the board collaborated with the architects to come up with an innovative design that was more than a square box.

“So we were very pleased, as a board and staff, to see Beyer Blinder Belle, come back with this curved concept of the shofar,” she said. “The ram’s horn is a call to action. It’s very fitting for what we’re trying to achieve — the goals that we hope to accomplish.”

She said the idea of the shofar, which is blown 100 times on Rosh Hashana, aligns with the center’s Take Action Initiative, an annual conference for high school and college students.

“That speaks to the building shape itself and sort of how it’s evolved in time, in a really exciting way. It speaks to why sometimes it’s worth it to just take your time and get it right, and not just build something for the sake of getting it done.”

Museum CEO Talli Dippold told GrowthSpotter that the Tallit was interpreted through the white exterior of the building. “Most of the Talits tend to be white. They’re the color of Jerusalem stone, which you also see when you look at the building, that it is very white in color.”

The building’s north elevation contains the most visually striking element, a soaring wall of glass called the “Window of Hope.”

It’s also the element that has undergone the most significant revision since the concepts were released in 2022. The current concept shows three types of glass with varying degrees of transparency shielded by an abstract framework of wood or metal.

Turner said the redesign was prompted by the need to regulate the amount of sunlight that filters into the building and its permanent collection.

“We also had conversations from a security standpoint, in terms of what that means to have a giant open window given that, unfortunately, we live in a state and a society where antisemitism and hatred is on the rise,” Turner said.

The metal screen is still a work in progress, but it’s meant to be open to interpretation. “Some people see a menorah. Some people have seen candles; some people have seen tree branches,” Turner said.

The Window of Hope overlooks a reflecting pool and memorial plaza with a garden and a water feature, where people can have quiet moments of reflection. Here again, the artistic vision must be tempered by practicality.

“Living in Florida, you understand what it means to have a giant window facing the North,” Turner said. “You also understand what it means to have a water feature if you live in Florida, maintaining a water feature and also knowing that there’s a lake right across the street and we’re not trying to fish out alligators every day.”

Dippold said the museum has hired a new exhibit design firm, Thinkwell Group, and should have renderings of the interior space this summer. The board selected Austin Commercial to be the general contractor and hopes to break ground in mid-2024.

The project has been awarded $10 million in Tourist Development Tax funds and is requesting an additional $15 million this year, for a total of $25 million to be distributed over three years. The construction cost of the building is estimated at $57.5 million.

Philanthropist Alan Ginsburg, through the Ginsburg Family Foundation, has pledged $10 million for the museum.

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