Pia, our team’s Quality Control Manager, comes to us all the way from New York. She moved to the Carolinas with her husband and young daughter, and they currently live in Concord. She loves exploring Charlotte with her family and one of their favorite places to frequent is Discovery Place. “It’s not just for the kids, my husband and I always have a blast and learn so much!” Pia says.
Discovery Place was originally founded in 1946 and was the first science education center in the Southeast. Laura Owens, a school teacher at the time, decided that her students would benefit greatly from having a hands-on learning environment where they could learn about things from the natural world. With help from the local community, she was able to open a small museum on Cecil Street in Charlotte. After her museum was so well received by the community, she gained a lot of additional community support and was able to develop a new Children’s Nature Center in 1951. This small idea Owens had continued to grow and evolve through the 1970’s when it was one of the most popular attractions in town. There was nowhere else in the Southeast you could come experience nature like this!
Over the past several decades, as the Charlotte community continued to grow and expand, so did Discovery Place. Over time they have added new exhibits, made room for ‘traveling exhibits’ (like the world famous ‘Body’ and ‘Dinosaur’ exhibits), adding a science and technology center, and even built the Carolinas very first giant-screen theatre – the IMAX Dome!
Today, the organization has three different museums, with four different locations to visit: Discovery Place Science in uptown Charlotte, Discovery Place Nature in Freedom Park, and Discovery Place Kids in Huntersville and Rockingham. Additionally, Discovery Place provides amazing professional development for those in the education sector through their STEM program.
Like Pia said, Discovery Place really has something fun for everyone. Very much unlike the dreaded bounce house or Chuck-E-Cheese (sorry guys!), you will be just as excited to learn and explore with the kids. And husbands, please remember – when it’s time to go, that doesn’t mean ‘just 5 more minutes please’! 🙂
To learn more, please visit: www.discoveryplace.org