#DISCOVERY PLACE PROFESSIONAL#

A $18.7 million public-private venture between Discovery Place, Inc. As part of a larger vision to develop other Discovery Place Kids locations across the region, Discovery Place Kids-Huntersville aims to appeal to families with young children and offers those living in outlying suburban communities the opportunity to visit a Discovery Place museum closer to home. In Fall 2010, Discovery Place opened its first Discovery Place Kids Museum in Huntersville, North Carolina. The museum features interactive nature exhibits and live animal displays, including a butterfly pavilion, live species, insects and a variety of native North Carolina animals.

#DISCOVERY PLACE PROFESSIONAL#

Additionally, the organization provides professional development through the Education Studio and educational programming through its community outreach program.ĭiscovery Place operates Discovery Place Nature, formerly Charlotte Nature Museum, located at 1658 Sterling Road, adjacent to Freedom Park and the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.

In 2016, the organization rebranded as Discovery Place, consisting of three brands: Discovery Place Science in uptown Charlotte, Discovery Place Nature in Freedom Park and Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville and Rockingham. The program is dedicated to educator professional development with a goal of advancing student and teacher attitudes and achievements in STEM. In 2014, Discovery Place Education Studio at Bank of America STEM Center for Career Development opened on the museum's uptown campus. Through public-private partnerships, the network continues to expand with a second Discovery Place Kids opened in 2013 in Rockingham, North Carolina.ĭiscovery Place has committed to training the region's educators to be inspired and inspiring teachers of Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Planned as a network of community-based children's museums, Discovery Place Kids aspires to maximize the whole child by offering imaginative environments that encourage learning through play. The museum has continued to grow with the expansion of the community, and the first Discovery Place Kids museum was opened in 2010 in Huntersville, North Carolina. In 2010, Discovery Place was significantly redeveloped, with an 18-month, $31.6 million renovation, resulting in a re-designed museum with new interactive exhibitions and state-of-the-art labs to encourage visitors to engage in real-world science problem solving. The Carol Grotnes Belk Education and Parking Complex was completed in 1996. In 1986, exhibition space was added to accommodate traveling exhibitions and, in 1991, The Charlotte Observer IMAX® Dome Theatre opened as the first giant-screen motion picture theatre in the Carolinas. The facility expanded as the needs of the community grew. This new museum opened in 1981, known as Discovery Place at 301 North Tryon Street with 72,000 square feet (6,700 m 2) of space. The community of Charlotte approved funding and plans for a comprehensive hands-on science and technology center, and it was decided to locate the new museum on North Tryon Street to encourage development in uptown Charlotte and maximize access in the growing city. Īt tis time, interest in science education was growing, in part due to the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. By the 1970s, it had been renamed the Charlotte Nature Museum. It further expanded in 1965 to include a planetarium. This museum opened in 1951, with a focus on bringing families and nature together. The popularity of this museum led to the foundation of the Children's Nature Center adjacent to the new Freedom Park. The museum traces its history to 1946, and the foundation of a small museum on Cecil Street, Charlotte, by Laura Owens, a school teacher. The Freedom Park location in Charlotte: Charlotte Nature Museum became Discovery Place Nature and the facilities in Huntersville, North Carolina and Rockingham, North Carolina retained their names: Discovery Place Kids-Huntersville and Discovery Place Kids-Rockingham. The Uptown Charlotte location: Discovery Place became Discovery Place Science. The Discovery Place moniker now refers to the 501(c)3 non-profit and network of museums as a whole. In 2016, on the organization's 70th anniversary, the Discovery Place network of museums underwent rebranding for naming clarity.

Discovery place