Permanent Exhibit
Step into the canyon where thousands of workers transformed the Colorado River and built one of the most legendary engineering projects in American history.
Northern Light Productions created thirteen interactive and immersive media experiences for the newly redesigned Hoover Dam Visitor Center. Through cinematic storytelling, composited media, archival interpretation, and hands-on exhibits, visitors experience the engineering ambition, physical labor, and lasting impact of one of the most legendary infrastructure projects in American history.
Services
- Content Development
- Scriptwriting
- UX Design
- Software Development
- Graphic/Visual Design & Development
- 2D Animation
- Original Filming
- Green Screen Compositing
- Sound Design and Editorial
An Immersive Canyon Passageway
One of the exhibit’s signature experiences transports visitors directly into the construction zone of the 1920s. Inside a wooden canyon passageway modeled after the temporary walkways used during construction, visitors travel along the edge of the future dam site while panoramic media environments recreate the intensity of building Hoover Dam.
Through composited media and environmental storytelling, visitors are placed within historic scenes of Black Canyon as it was being excavated. Dynamite blasts echo through the canyon walls, workers rappel down sheer rock faces as high-scalers, and trucks haul debris from the canyon floor.
The result is a powerful moment of time travel!
A Hands-On Engineering Challenge
Visitors can test their own engineering instincts at the Build-a-Dam interactive, where a physical model invites them to experiment with the forces that shaped Hoover Dam’s design.
This interactive moment turns Hoover Dam’s monumental scale into something visitors can explore directly—demonstrating the elegant engineering principles behind one of the most ambitious construction projects ever attempted.
The Workers Who Built the Dam
Behind Hoover Dam’s monumental concrete wall were thousands of workers who drilled tunnels through solid rock, hauled debris from the canyon floor, and poured concrete around the clock.
Hands-on exhibits allow visitors to experience the physical labor and precision required to build the dam. Visitors can explore surveying tools, construction equipment, and the daily realities faced by the workers who made the project possible.
These experiences bring the human story of Hoover Dam to the forefront.
Life in Boulder City
Hoover Dam reshaped more than the Colorado River—it created an entirely new community. Media installations exploring Boulder City reveal how workers and their families lived during construction and how the dam transformed life across the region. Oral histories and archival imagery connect the engineering achievement to the everyday lives of the people who built it.
interactive and immersive media elements
canyon passageway to the past
square feet of exhibit space
legendary dam
