The Discovery Museums
Coordinates: 42°21′49″N 71°08′02″W / 42.363614°N 71.133960°W
| The Discovery Museums | |
|---|---|
 The Children's Discovery Museum |
|
| Established | 1982 |
| Location | 177 Main Street (Route 27) Acton, Massachusetts 01720 |
| Type | Children's museum |
| Director | Neil H. Gordon |
| Public transit access | MBTA: South Acton |
| Website | http://www.discoverymuseums.org/ |
The Discovery Museums is a children's museum in Acton, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1982, the Children's Discovery Museum and the Science Discovery Museum share a 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) campus.
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[edit] History
The Children's Discovery Museum was founded in 1982 by Donald B. Verger, a math teacher and naturalist.[1] The Science Discovery Museum opened in 1988.[2] An additional parcel that increased the campus size by half was purchased and a new master plan was commissioned in 2008.[3]
[edit] Permanent exhibits
The Children's Discovery Museum permanent exhibits include the Assabet River Water Table, Bessie's Play Diner, the Rainbow Room, the Safari Room, Sensations[4], S.S. Discover, and the Train Room[5]. Former exhibits include the Chain Reaction Room, the Dinosaur Room, and Grandma's Attic.[6]
The Science Discovery Museum permanent exhibits include Earth Science, Inventor's Workshop, Rubber Ball Music Wall[7], Sea of Clouds, and Solar Storms to Radio Waves.
[edit] Buildings
The Children's Discovery Museum is housed in a 3-story Victorian house, built in 1880, that has 3,500 square feet (330 m2) of floor space in ten rooms. The Science Discovery Museum is housed in a purpose-built postmodern building[8] designed by E. Verner Johnson & Associates[9]. It has 8,200 square feet (760 m2) of floor space.
[edit] Former Directors
- Donald Verger
- Kathleen Compton
- Deborah Gilpin (1992-2003)[10]
Michael W. Judd
[edit] References
- ^ Bergeron, Chris (2007-11-04). "25 years of Discovery". MetroWest Daily News. http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/multimedia/x1855982479.
- ^ Weld, Elizabeth New (1989-04-09). "Discovering science hands-on".
- ^ "Discovery Museums picks Cambridge Seven for project". Boston Business Journal. 2008-03-06. http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/03/03/daily54.html.
- ^ Heaney, Sally (2004-09-16). "New exhibition at Discovery Museum". Boston Globe. "'Sensations! Sensory Exploration for the Very Young' is a new Children's Discovery Museum exhibition... that will be open to the public for the first time..."
- ^ "It's full steam ahead at Acton's Discovery Museum". Lowell Sun. 2001-10-11. "The Children's Discovery Museum, 177 Main St., Acton, is right on track with its new Train Room..."
- ^ Anderson, Leslie (2002-09-19). "Discovery Museums mark 20 years of learning". Boston Globe.
- ^ Burns, Nancy V. (2004-01-15). "Inventor's gadgets bring stirring music to students' ears". The Boston Globe. "The Discovery Museums in Acton commissioned [Leonard] Solomon to build a permanent exhibit in 1998. He came up with the Rubber Ball Music Wall..."
- ^ Campbell, Robert (1988-08-09). "Post-Modernism put to excellent use in Acton". Boston Globe. "Surely the architectural style known as Post-Modernism has never been used to better effect than at the new Science Discovery Museum in Acton."
- ^ Cook, Joan (1987-11-22). "Going On in the Northeast". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7D9143FF931A15752C1A961948260.
- ^ Floyd, Jesse A. (2003-06-28). "Museum makes a 'Discovery' with new director". Milford Daily News. http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1457469530.
