STURGEON BAY, Wis. (WFRV) — About a year ago, the Door County Maritime Museum broke ground on a project that will allow visitors to learn about the county from new heights.

“There are a lot of great stories that we want to be able to share and tell,” Sam Perlman, Deputy Director & Development Manager at the museum told Local 5.

When the Maritime Lighthouse Tower is complete, the museum will have ten new floors dedicated to telling those stories.

“The problem now is trying to consolidate and condense that down into themes that we can share throughout the entire building,” Perlman said.

Derrick Palmer, Project Manager for Southern Custom Exhibits, was on hand Wednesday as officials with the museum discussed plans for the exhibit.

“That’s probably the biggest challenge,” he said, “is how do you narrow down all of these stories and compact them into a roughly 32 by 18 room?”

The tower will consist of 10 rooms, each with a different theme related to Door County’s maritime history.

“You kind of break down Door County, what makes Door County what it is today,” Palmer said, “historically, the commerce, economics, and the cultures that make it up.”

That also includes opportunities for STEAM learning.

“Science and technology, engineering, engineering, how you design a ship, the ships that are being built right behind us here at bay ship building company, that is all science and technology,” Perlman said.

So far the group has established that the first thing those visitors will see is the view from 10 stories up.

“When you enter the tower, you’ll start at the bottom with the introduction theater,” Palmer said, “and from that point you’ll take the elevator all the way up to the top.”

There, guests will have a view of Sturgeon Bay’s working waterfront.

“Soaking in the surrounding area, with plenty of views with the windows surrounding you, and it’ll kind of orientate you to the area,” Palmer said.

A different way to look at Door County’s relationship with the water, both past and present.

“We hope that it’s going to bring a greater and deeper understanding of our maritime history, our maritime culture,” Perlman said.

The tower is expected to open to visitors in May 2021, and work on all ten exhibits is slated to be completed in Spring 2022.