It saddened me to hear about the financial troubles facing Exploration Place. The building is a stunning architectural landmark for Wichita.
Unfortunately, the programs and exhibits inside have never lived up to the spectacular and inspiring exterior. Too many static displays. Not enough hands-on, engaging exhibits.
The “Kansas in Miniature” exhibit is charming, for instance, but hardly must-see. You don’t need a soaring $65 million building to house such modest aims. And the health exhibits don’t exactly make my pulse quicken, either.
The programming problems call for more than tweaking. Will the current board and civic leaders listen to the community and make some radical changes? Hope so.
What do blog readers think of Exploration Place? How could it be better? What science centers in other cities could be good models?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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9 Comments
The building is a forboding chunk of gray concrete to many of us.
The health exhibits are demeaningly empty-minded.
And that wall of dangly spangles that shimmers in a fan makes everybody look and say…WTF?
Look, even the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is mostly a bore, though some exhibits are cool. Does it ever break even? I doubt it.
The Cosmosphere has real stuff to see. I’m sure it outdraws every Wichita museum, the ice rink, and Exp. Place combined. Does it break even?
The omniplex in Oklahoma City is a good example of the kind of museum Exploration Place could be. Let it live up to its name.
As a teacher I was was so excited about Exploration Place and watched it being built almost step by step. I have planned trips there every year but last year the other teachers I work with voted not to have our field trip ther because there wasn’t enough there to keep our kids interested for the whole school day.Another problem is the cost. To enjoy the shows plus the admission fee it adds up to a lot of money, especially if you are treating out of town guests. If we had enough traffic each year maybe they could lower the cost. Also the place in Oklahoma City (the museum close to the race track) is awesome. Lots of hands-on exhibits and there just aren’t enough hours in one day to cover everything.
I have to agree with the others. Not a lot of content to make me want to come back. I took my 2 daughters there last year. They were 12 & 13 at the time. They weren’t too impressed. It seemed maybe it was too young for them.
We really wanted to go see the Pink Floyd light show. Speaking of… when is “The Wall” show coming? It was supposed to be last year.
I think maybe they could add something like the Koleidescope (from Crown Center in KC).
I think they need to gear it towards adults as well as kids. I, myself have never been to Exploration Place, because everybody says it’s for kids, and I have no children. But I go to the Zoo, Cosmosphere, Cowtown, and Art Museums. They are all for kids and adults.
I think EP has some interesting stuff for adults and for little kids, it’s the in-betweens that are the problem. When you’re not old enough (or maybe it’s “not geeky enough”) to appreciate the history and technical detail in the flight section, what’s left?
The health section is a bit… no, a *lot* lame, I’m afraid. I’m sure the solve-the-food-poisoning mystery is neat if you have time to figure out where to actually start the thing, but I’m always chasing a preschooler, so my impression is that it’s a bit too diffuse to actually follow. I really like the castle, but I’d have rather seen the health area get the major makeover.
I’ve lived here all my life. There is not a whole lot that encourages me to stay here in Wichita, and I’m sure that is true of more than a few people. One thing that does keep me and my young son here is Exploration Place.I really don’t get the complaints. My son and I have been to EP nine times. I still do not think we have seen or explored everything. (A side note here, while I was posting this, I told my son who is 11 that many people were saying that EP should be closed because it is “boring” his response? “hogwash! they are boring”)While the one time admission price is a bit high, EP does offer yearly membership that is very economical. These packages often also offer guest passes and show discounts.Exploration Place is also a very viable tourist attraction, second only to the Sedgwick County Zoo. This is no small thing in a city with so few things to offer visitors.We live in a community where $78,000 was spent because a few people did not like the color of a roof in their high end neighborhood. We live in a community where millions are spent to appease increadingly greedy corporations to stay here. Just a few days ago, we were all made to pay a sales tax for an arena 49% of us do not want, and most likely won’t utilize. I think we can each afford a few cents to keep a world class science facility operating.
Here’s a thought for EP:
Lease a small portion of the space, at a reduced rate, to public service agencies such as the tag office and the driver’s license bureau- and oh, yeah, as a clincher,add a QT too. Plan on expanding the parking lot and adding staff to handle the crowds!
Why not make it the Wichita visitor’s center and move the boat over there? They’re going to close the visitor’s center until 2007 anyway. Kill 2 birds with one stone, I say.