Welcoming more than 1.6 million people every year, the original USS Arizona Memorial was overcrowded and offered few opportunities for the interpretation of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Working with design architect Portico Group (now part of MIG), MASON provided consulting services through planning and programming, 50% construction documents and construction administration services in order to create a new facility that allowed for expanded exhibits and significant historical interpretation while serving as the center for all other historic museum experiences at Pearl Harbor.

Original plans were made to renovate the existing facilities at Halawa Landing in 2002, but continuing settlement of the underlying substrate persuaded the National Park Service (NPS) and the Department of the Navy to demolish the existing facilities (except the two theaters) and to build a new, state-of-the-art Visitor Center on the site. The resulting new Visitor Center complex houses orientation services, exhibits, theaters, sales areas, restrooms, and office spaces. The complex also includes significant exterior viewing and staging areas, shaded spaces, and walkways with interpretive wayside exhibits.