Kinzua Bridge Interpretive Plan

Client: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources & Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau

In August of 2008, the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau (ANFVB) and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) teamed to pursue professional services to develop an interpretive plan for the new visitor center at Kinzua Bridge State Park located in McKean County, Pennsylvania. The park will build a visitor center in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Wilds tourism initiative in north central Pennsylvania.

In mid October 2008, Imperial Multimedia was contracted by the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau to complete the Interpretive Plan and Concept Design for indoor and outdoor exhibits and programming for the new visitor center. By this time, design for the building was contracted and well underway.

Funding for the Kinzua Bridge Visitor Center’s Interpretive Plan was furnished through a grant for planning a Discovery/Visitor Center at the Kinzua Bridge State Park by the official tourism promotion agency for McKean County, the Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, and was supported by the McKean County Commissioners.

The Kinzua Interpretive Plan was completed in December of 2009. The plan details the interpretive layout and design for the new visitor center at Kinzua Bridge State Park. Kinzua Bridge State Park is located in the northern hills of the Pennsylvania Wilds in McKean County. The 329-acre park is also home to the remnants of a 2,053-foot railroad viaduct, originally built in 1882 to provide greater access to coal, timber and oil resources and to provide for the transport of these resources to the markets where they were needed.

A master plan for the entire Pennsylvania Wilds was completed in early 2010.