General Growth Properties Inc. will hold the second of its four community forums tonight to introduce its design and planning team working on the master plan for Columbia Town Center.
Gail Dexter Lord, president and co-founder of Lord Cultural Resources, will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the GGP building, 10275 Little Patuxent Parkway.
With more than 30 years of experience in the museum and cultural sector, Lord has helped institutions, communities and their leaders worldwide to develop their cultural resources on such projects as the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, the World Trade Center Memorial Museum in New York, Peabody Museum, Harvard University and the National African American Museum of History and Culture.
"Gail Lord is a world-renowned expert in designing cultural facilities and attractions that enhance and increase community participation in the arts and cultural activities," Gregory F. Hamm, GGP's regional vice president and general manager of Columbia, said in a statement. "This event will give everyone an opportunity to learn more about Gail Lord's involvement in the community. We are seeking here to combine the best expert resources with the best insights of Columbia and Howard County residents to bring forth a vibrant cultural future."
Lord is co-author of The Manual of Museum Exhibitions, The Manual of Museum Management and The Manual of Museum Planning and has written numerous articles on a range of topics.
A video of the meeting will be available online afterward at www.columbiatown center.info. Information about this forum series and the April 28 release of the draft master plan, as well as other community events and updates, will be available on the Web site.
Here is the remaining schedule of speakers:
April 2: Evening with Keith Bowers, founder and president of Biohabitats, an ecological restoration design, planning and assessment firm. He has a background in restoration ecology, ecological planning and landscape architecture, which he has applied to hundreds of projects in North America.
April 9: Evening with Jaquelin T. Robertson. As founding partner of the architecture and urban design firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners, Robertson has led his firm's design work on many award-winning architectural and planning projects, including Daniel Island, S.C., New Albany, N.Y., Celebration and WaterColor in Florida, and Val d'Europe in France.