San Francisco's Exploratorium opens in sparkling new home

[AsahinaKimi]

San Francisco (CNN) -- At the Exploratorium, one does not stand stiffly in front of musty exhibits and read tiny placards. There is no room for boredom or passively observing. The installations at this interactive science museum are hands on -- they require touching, building, playing, experimenting and thinking.

And in the Exploratorium's shiny new space, the experience is just as much for adults as it is for children.

On Wednesday, the doors open on the Exploratorium's first new home in its 44 years, the $300 million renovated Pier 15 on the Embarcadero, San Francisco's eastern stretch of waterfront. It is three times larger than the old museum, the cavernous exhibit hall at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, which was originally built for the 1915 World's Fair. The Exploratorium was originally opened in that location in 1969 by physicist Frank Oppenheimer.

The new quarters have taken the original spirit and contents of the old Exploratorium and given them a sophisticated makeover. The building has sweeping views of San Francisco Bay, the city skyline and the Bay Bridge's new nightly light show. Though the Exploratorium costs up to $25 to enter, the 330,000-square-foot museum is rimmed with free public space: a wind sculpture, a giant sundial and wooden pylons in the water that track the tides and colors of the bay. A bridge next to the pier doubles as an art installation, enveloping the area in a thick artificial fog once an hour.

more..http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/tech/innovation/new-exploratorium/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5

[Bluenorthwest]

1. I loved Expoloritorium in part because of the building that housed it.

$25 to enter some sleek new building containing exhibits that are now common to many hands on science museums is not something I am going to rush to do. $25. Wow. SF is a rich person's town indeed.

[Brother Buzz]

2. That's the consensus in our home, too

If we could dig him up, I suspect Bernard Maybeck might agree, too.

[CreekDog]

3. Discounts for students, teachers, seniors, disabled and a "Happy Hour" too

regular discounts make it $19 for teachers, seniors, students, youth
free for 5 and under.
Thursdays 6-10pm is $15/person.

The facility is new and modern and more accessible than the old, closer to public transit and in a stunning location. I would love it if the city paid for that, but with the facility serving so many tourists while the city seeks to balance its budget, admission fees seem fair. I'd love it to be a little lower but I'm understanding that such is not realistic.