BETHESDA, MD.- Construction is underway on the Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History in Far Hills , N.J. The museum facility will serve as the expanded home of the United States Golf Association’s (USGA) Museum and Archives, and will feature interactive and engaging exhibits designed by Bethesda, Md.-based Gallagher & Associates.

Noted for its work in sports museums throughout the U.S. , Gallagher & Associates has worked on designs for the Arnold Palmer Center for the past two years. The new exhibits will cover the history of USGA championships and champions from 1895 to the present, and will focus on four major highlights in golf history: Francis Ouimet’s victory as an amateur at the 1913 U.S. Open; Bob Jones’ Grand Slam accomplishment of 1930 (winning the British Open, the British Amateur, the U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur); the era of the Arnold Palmer-Jack Nicklaus rivalry; and modern highlights that center around U.S. golf professional Tiger Woods.

The USGA Museum was established in 1935 and is the oldest museum in the nation dedicated to sports history. The existing building was designed by John Russell Pope and built in 1919. Known as “Golf House,” the historic building is being renovated and will be connected to a 16,000-square-foot addition that will feature the public exhibition galleries, research space, and state-of-the-art storage for historic documents and artifacts.

In addition to Gallagher & Associates, the consulting team includes the architecture firm of Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects of Princeton, N.J. The exhibits are being constructed and installed by 1220 Exhibits of Nashville, Tenn. The museum will reopen in mid-2008.

Gallagher & Associates is also designing the Carolina Basketball Museum at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill; the U.S. Naval Academy’s Lacrosse Hall of Fame in Annapolis , Md. ; and the University of Tennessee ’s new Hall of Champions in Knoxville . The firm also designed the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in Norfolk , Va. ; and is currently designing the new National Sports Museum in New York City.