Fact Friday 449 - The History of Discovery Place

Discovery Place, one of the first interactive science-technology centers in the Southeast, opened on October 31, 1981. Its origins date back to the 1960s, when it became apparent to the Charlotte Nature Museum’s planning committee that they alone could not meet the growing city’s need for a major science museum. In 1975, after extensive studies, discussions, and the formation of a citizen’s committee, a new science and technology museum was deemed feasible if financed with bond money. Two years later in 1977, Charlotteans voted to approve over seven million dollars for land acquisition, construction, and exhibits for the new museum. Another three million dollars was raised privately.

On the center’s first paid admission day, 1,500 people visited the center, and another 2,337 students visited on field trips throughout the opening week. The museum’s executive director Frieda Nicholson explained the museum’s aim of bringing young people into contact with the science and technology that affects them daily: “Our goal is beyond simply telling people that science and technology is important. We want to encourage them to ask, ‘What does it mean to me?’ Then we can answer that so they leave feeling closer to their world.”

With an emphasis on hands-on learning, Discovery Place sought to tie art and science more closely together to stimulate an interest in science among kids at an early age, in light of the rapid development and growing importance of technology in everyday life. Opening day exhibits included “Charlotte, the World, and Me,” featuring computer graphics and interactive maps of Charlotte’s historic sites, highways, and neighborhoods; The Life Center, with pictures, diagrams, and models of different body systems; and “Electricity in the Piedmont,” with hands-on exhibits about energy production and conservation.

Mary Boyer collection of historical postcards and papers, MS0121, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.

J. Alex McMillan papers, MS0263, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, UNC Charlotte.