07/12/2026
An important anniversary has quietly arrived today! On this day 50 years ago, the West Virginia Culture Center was formally unveiled to the public on the grounds of the State Capitol Complex.
For decades, the West Virginia State Archives and the State Museum were housed in cramped quarters within the Capitol Building. Lack of proper climate control; insufficient space to safely store, organize, and display items; and a chronically understaffed and underpaid workforce all threatened the long term preservation of the state’s most valuable artifacts and documents. Years of pleading for increased funding and a new facility went unheeded.
Things began to change in 1969 when Arch Moore became Governor. West Virginia Arts and Humanities Council Director Norm Fagan successfully convinced Moore of the need for a new, modern building to house the state’s archives and museum, as well as its growing assemblage of humanities-related offices. The pair were inspired by the recent development of other public cultural facilities such as the Ohio History Center in Columbus and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
It took several years for construction to begin due to the need to secure financing and acquire ownership over Charleston’s Rose Hill Block neighborhood, which was demolished to provide space for the building. The prestigious local architectural firm of C. E. Silling & Associates, known for modernist buildings such as Charleston’s National Bank of Commerce and Morgantown’s West Virginia University Coliseum, was contracted to develop the Culture Center. While a progressive, modern design was sought, Gov. Moore also requested that the new building not overshadow the State Capitol Building. This resulted in a lower, simpler facility, clad in an Indiana limestone exterior to complement that of the Capitol Building’s.
Construction of the Culture Center began in 1973 and took three years. Initially projected to cost around $9-10 million, the building ended up consuming more than $14 million. Construction delays postponed the Culture Center’s completion by a month, but it was still able to open close enough in time to coincide with the American Bicentennial.
A lavish, twelve-hour series of events heralded the opening of the West Virginia Culture Center on July 11, 1976. Much of the activities were paid for using a grant from the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration. Over 30,000 visitors (the Center’s largest single-day crowd to date) were treated to refreshments, tours of the new museum, live music, dancing, craft demonstrations, and even puppet shows.
Norm Fagan, appointed by Moore to serve as the Culture Center’s first director, commented, “We’re going to bury that syndrome once and for all that we are poor Appalachians with nothing to be proud of. We have a heritage - and a wonderful and unique one at that. This is reflected in every inch of the Center. We try always, without gloss, to reflect the true feeling of the State.”
The West Virginia Culture Center received widespread acclaim upon its opening, although critiques of the architectural design were more divided - some praised the building’s modern, Brutalist style, while others compared the plain, gray, blocky exterior to a drab bunker. Many critics of the Governor even referred to it as “Archie’s Bunker.”
In addition to the West Virginia State Museum and State Archives, the Culture Center also housed the new West Virginia State Theater, the State Library Commission, the Arts Office, the State Historic Preservation Office, and Goldenseal Magazine. The following year, the state legislature established the West Virginia Department of Culture and History to manage the Culture Center and the agencies housed within it. Later it evolved into the Department of Arts, Culture, and History. In 2025, the Department was dissolved and all of its agencies and properties (including the Culture Center) were moved under the Department of Tourism.
Half a century later, the Culture Center remains West Virginia’s central repository for historical materials and a vital promoter of state art and culture. More than just a building, it is a physical testimony to the state government’s historic investment in West Virginia heritage.
What do you think about the Culture Center? Let me know in the comments!
