By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
The Bay Area Discovery Museum, beloved by local families for more than three decades, has completed a major $20 million renovation of its campus, with five new research-backed exhibits.
PHOTO BY LARRY CLINTON
All aboard the good ship Faith at BADM
The museum was the brainchild of two Marin women, Clara Greisman and Sue Monaghan, beginning in 1984. According to an article in this paper, they recruited a board of directors, drafted bylaws, secured the museum’s tax-exempt status, and raised $550,000. The museum opened in April 1987 in temporary quarters at the Town Center in Corte Madera, but a permanent site had already been selected at East Fort Baker in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The architectural firm of Esherick, Hornsey, Dodge and Davis, which designed the Monterey Bay Aquarium, was selected to design the museum.
Reporting on the grand opening in Corte Madera, Marinscope reporter Sheri Rice declared, “the museum is dedicated to the young and the young at heart. Collections and exhibits are not just for looking at, they provide an opportunity for hands-on involvement, allowing children and adults to touch, manipulate, ask questions, create, learn, and even make noise.”
Her article continued: “the Bay Area Discovery Museum has set goals to encourage active participation, provide a framework for discovery in the arts, humanities, science and technology, open up an understanding of the multi-ethnic community we all live in, give parents and children a chance to learn together, and generally provide a base of inquiry for curious adults.” All while concentrating on the Bay Area environment.
Another Marinscope writer, Tina Bournazos, reported on the Museum’s two-day grand opening celebration of its permanent facility three years later: “The Bay Area Discovery Museum has made a new home in seven historic buildings at East Fort Baker, and local kids 2 to 12 will be treated to an expanded version of the popular hands-on children’s museum. Its new location not only boasts a stunning view of the Golden Gate Bridge and lots of wide open space for exploring the great outdoors, but also affords room for the museum to spread out.”
Those former Army support buildings were once a bakery, a blacksmith shop, a carriage house and storerooms.
The Discovery Museum was based on the idea that children learn by doing, explained Diane Frankel, executive director. “There is a Chinese proverb, ‘I hear, and I forget. I see and I remember. I do, and I know.’ That's the underlying philosophy of the Bay Area Discovery Museum, with emphasis on environmental and social issues specific to the Bay Area."
Today, “Landscape-inspired rooms invite toddlers to crawl, feel and hop through themed environments, all the while gaining an age-appropriate introduction to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) learning concepts,” reports Marin Magazine. “The bay and water room features a play structure offering different tactile experiences, while the forest and habitat room offers plenty of interactive areas to explore, and a black-and-white wall mural by Steven Valenziano features animals and plants that are native to Marin County.”
A How Things Work exhibit features inner workings of familiar objects to spark children’s curiosity and encourage abstract thinking. Lookout Cove contains the Faith, a decommissioned fishing vessel from Bodega Bay which kids can climb on and explore. The boat was prepared at Spaulding Marine Center in Sausalito and then sailed to the museum campus, where it was craned out of the water and transported across the site via truck.
A Try It Studio is aimed at increasing digital literacy, and Gumnut Grove is an imaginative climbing structure inspired by the seedpods of the eucalyptus trees on the BADM campus.
The BADM is currently using a timed ticketing system to help maintain an appropriate site capacity.
Everyone is asked to reserve tickets in advance, including members. Pre-register at https://bayareadiscoverymuseum.org/visit/tickets/reserve-tickets for the smoothest experience. Adults must be accompanied by children.