We have a better understanding now of what will become of many of the museum's grand open spaces. The area shown in the first two photos below will serve double duty, first as an exhibit area featuring a working pilot house as found on a modern tugboat among several other exhibits. The space will also serve as a mingling area for guests when the museum is used as a nighttime event center. Banquets and social events will be a staple of activity at the River Discovery Center during off hours. Looking off the balcony, visitors will see giant banners featuring the history of the Mississippi River and the most important people responsible for shaping that history. The second photo in the second row show the traveling gallery, a space that will show exhibits from across the country and around the world. This space will change regularly to bring in new and different features so the museum will never be the same experience twice for annual return visitors. The wall show in the last photo of the second row will feature one of the museums many multimedia presentations.
Along with shots of the wetlands, rows three and four show some more of the aquariums and habitat exhibits in the museum. These will exist outside the structure as well as inside. Visitors will interact with these exhibits very closely, even entering some of them. Picture three in row four shows Mr. Enzler in front of what will be the giant high definition video screens of the River Theater. This wrap around theater will immerse you in the rive experience including seats designed to shake and rattle along with famous storms and events of the past. A feast for the eyes and ears.
Behind the Museum, the excitement continues in the educational Wetlands. This area will allow visitors to stroll through a real wetland area inhabited by numerous wildlife species. The water level in the wetlands in now up to the level at which it will remain. A real log cabin built in 1841 will sit on this property as well. Along with the construction in the Museum, the is renovation going on inside and outside of the existing river museum. We promise to take you inside this building soon for a tour, but for now we can see the changes on the outside. Along with a tuckpointing and a fresh coat of paint, there is a fantastic new boardwalk along side the boatyard building and a grand stage at the center for performances and more. Hundreds of square feet of decking will take visitors all over this area. Kids will be able to pilot remote control boats the pond pictured in photo three of row three. Massive boilers are currently being restored in this courtyard area and will soon have smokestacks atop them once again. The courtyard area will be finished off with grass and landscaping. The giant paddlewheel from the William M. Black has been recently rebuilt and in now half-stained. It will turn in a pool in front of the museum, kicking up water as it spins.
Just off this are will be a boat launch area where multiple time each day, a "newly constructed" boat will be launched into the water with a mighty splash. Pictured low on the page is the Logsdon, a old steam-driver workhorse of a paddlewheeler where visitors will begin their museum journey. The two guys in the picture in the last row are (left) Chris Wand, a Durrant Architect working on the remodeling of the Woodward Riverboat Museum, and (right) Jeff Holmes, Director of Marketing for the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.
