BCA served as the historic preservation consultant to the Newark Museum during its proposed Signature Project campaign for strategic expansion. The Museum campus is located in the James Street Commons Historic District, listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places. The Museum campus is a multi-property resource of urban buildings and landscapes from various periods that reflect the growth and development of the area from a 17th century farming community to a 21st century urban center. To meet current and future programmatic needs, the Signature Project required alterations to the Museum’s historic campus, as well as appropriate new construction.

BCA developed a detailed restoration plan for the 1784 Lyons Farm Schoolhouse; comprehensive Historic Structure Reports for the c. 1861 Polhemus House and 1885 Ballantine Carriage House; an analysis of the impact of the potential relocation of the c. 1870 Ward Carriage House; HABS documentation of 51 Central Avenue (built c. 1929); a videotaped oral history of the last living member of the Polhemus family to occupy the house; significance studies of the Ward Carriage House, the south Wing of the Museum Building (former 1913 YWCA), and the Museum Garden; and treatment designs for the restoration of the Polhemus House and Ballantine Carriage House.