There is also a two-story sculpture slide which you can go down but be warned it is super-fast. The big hit was the huge dino fossils for my son! He was thrilled. You will not be sorry you did.ĭiscovery Park of America has 100,000 square feet of museum space, which houses 10 galleries showcasing science, space, technology, military, natural history, regional history, art, transportation, and more. Head down to Union City and check out the Discovery Park. It takes about two hours from Nashville area, it is not a bad drive, and you can spend hours at the location. We’re an educational thing that has caught on,” said Rippy.Who needs a good day trip to do as a family? Who doesn’t mind driving around 2 hours for a fun family outing? I have a great option to share with you. There’s also a Titanic exhibit coming next year, said Rippy, a lifelong friend of Kirkland who had been retired for all of one day when his old bud asked him to help get the museum off the ground. New exhibits are on the way, including a mock-up of the moon that will make it appear as if the heavenly body has landed on Earth. After focusing advertising on the Nashville region in its first year, the museum’s marketing staff will target tourists from Memphis in its second year, Rippy says. The next challenge is to maintain the momentum the museum created in its first year. “Discovery Park is not a flash in the plan. “The kids that I take, I see no dampening of their enthusiasm, even if it has been open for a year,” Searcy said. She also goes regularly with her husband and three children. Susan Searcy, a guidance counselor at Union City Elementary, has visited several times with groups of third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students.
That’s impossible,” said Rippy, who adds that 17,000 memberships have been sold to repeat visitors. Santa Claus is expected to make an appearance during Christmas-time.
Adults enjoy the “libation station,” where they can socialize on weekends, while outdoor concerts also keep the older crowd coming. The 50-acre complex also boasts an old train depot, a century-old church, a rotating grist mill, antique tractors, log cabins and flower gardens, giving a glimpse of what life was once like in rural America.Ī children’s section includes the “Crawlers Cove” for infants and the “Fantasy Forest” for toddlers.
DISCOVERY PARK OF AMERICA SIMULATOR
But when the museum opened, nobody could predict whether visitors be willing to drive a couple of hours to the small-town museum, and if Union City had enough hotels and restaurants to accommodate them.Īn earthquake simulator causes the floor to tremble, a 120-foot glass observation tower offers stunning views, and a 50-foot metal replica of the human body includes a 32-foot slide. Union City resident Robert Kirkland, who built a fortune with a chain of home decor stores and smart investments, has given $85 million from his foundation to build and expand the museum, Rippy said. Discovery Park CEO Jim Rippy said attendance could hit 300,000 by the end of this calendar year. School groups and repeat visitors attracted by fun, educational exhibits have led attendance figures to blow past expectations for this one-of-a-kind museum located in Union City, Tennessee, a town of 11,000 located a few hours’ drive from Memphis, Nashville and St. They exceeded that goal by 120,000, with a total of 270,000 people visiting since the museum opened Nov. UNION CITY – When Discovery Park of America opened on a cornfield in rural Tennessee, its founders expected the museum described as a “mini-Smithsonian” to draw about 150,000 visitors in its first year.
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