A historic room doesn’t want modern furniture in it. But a working event space can’t be frozen in time, either. Adler Display partnered with Jason Illari, Executive Director of the Historical Society of Carroll County (HSCC), to solve exactly that problem for the Shriver-Weybright Auditorium and Exhibits Hall, a room on HSCC’s historic Kimmey House campus in Westminster that needed to look like it had always belonged there, and disappear when the room needed to become something else.
Built to Fit the Room and the Era
Every case Adler built for the Exhibits Hall is custom wood construction, styled to feel period-appropriate to the historic Kimmey House rather than dropped in as modern furniture. Wall cases and floor cases alike are integrated with lighting, so the certificates, photographs, and artifacts on display are lit the way a museum piece deserves — evenly and warmly, allowing the contents to stand out without the glare of harsh overhead lighting.
The floor cases anchoring the center of the room got an extra bit of engineering: they’re mounted on casters, so HSCC’s team can roll them out of the way when the Exhibits Hall needs to convert for a reception, a lecture, or an event. It’s a small detail, but one that can elevate the case from a functional display to an intentional part of the exhibit design.
A Showcase for Carroll County at 250
The timing lines up with something bigger. The new cases give HSCC the infrastructure to launch its Carroll 250 exhibit, a community showcase commemorating the nation’s Semiquincentennial and Carroll County’s own 250-year history. It’s exactly the kind of milestone moment a historical society builds toward for years and now it has a home designed to match it.
Here HSCC’s Executive Director, Jason Illari talk about the project in this own words:
Have a Space Worth Showing Off?
Whether you’re preserving a historic collection, launching a milestone exhibit, or just tired of choosing between “museum” and “event space,” Adler Display’s team can help you build display cases that do both. Get in touch to start the conversation by filling out the form below. We look forward to helping you create not only a showcase that does justice to your artifacts, but a room that keeps working long after the exhibit opens.
About Adler Display: Every Adler Display project begins the same way: understanding what you’re trying to accomplish, who you’re trying to reach, and what must be true for the project to succeed. We assess the full picture — the environment, the architecture, the budget, the timeline — then engineer and fabricate in-house so the finished result matches what you imagined. That’s how we’ve earned our clients’ confidence since 1937. Learn more at www.AdlerDisplay.com.