Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Lightship Museum

Portsmouth, Virginia

The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Lightship Museum is located on the waterfront in downtown Portsmouth, Virginia. The museum covers the 250+ year history of America’s oldest and largest naval shipyard, which began as Gosport Shipyard in 1767, and is now known as Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The museum exhibits are spread out through two neighboring facilities. The Lightship Portsmouth is a museum ship that was built in 1915 and served in the U.S. Lighthouse Service from 1916 to 1964. In 1989, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. Currently, the ship is retrofitted out realistically and filled with artifacts. The bulk of the Naval Shipyard Museum artifacts are located in the two- story building at 2 High Street, which was constructed in 1920. McPherson Design Group completed Facility Condition Assessments and provided comprehensive reports for both the building and the ship in 2015. In 2010, McPherson Design Group provided a study and report for the load capacity of the second floor of the museum building. In 2016, McPherson Design Group provided contract documents for extensive repairs to cracks, spalls and brick damage throughout the exterior of the building. In 2017, McPherson Design Group assisted in the replacement and relocation of the HVAC units for the building.